The film is about an astronaut who gets left behind on the planet Mars after his crew assumes he is dead and they have to make an emergency exit from the planet. Matt Damon as the astronaut is a treat to watch. He is one cocky botanist who prepares to "science the s*^t out of " the situation and survive till the next mission from earth to mars arrives. Which he assumes is going to be after four years. So he gets to work trying to make water and farm potatoes on a planet that has no breathable air or water. When NASA realises he is still alive, they have to take tough calls on what to do about it. Retrieving him is subject to all kinds of constraints that put their best intentions to the test.
Meanwhile on Mars.the confident botanist called Mark Watney takes charge of the situation and gives himself all kinds of credits for being the first human to achieve this and that. This, I love. The can do, will do, and feel-good-about-your-smarts attitude.
The film is a tribute to humankind’s achievements. Like Gravity was. Gravity was a much better film in many ways. And Interstellar was more intense and complex. But The Martian is a simpler, more straight-forward film. The cowboy stunts which can happen only in cinema and never in real life, are exciting and designed to make you cheer on the efforts that of course MUST lead to satisfactory endings. But I am not complaining. In fact, am loving it! The climax was a visual treat. Astronauts hanging out in space, tethered to their space ship and saving their own.wow! Can’t have enough of it.
Hope to see a film a month instead of a film a year, from Hollywood, that explains the mind-boggling achievements and possibilities that science lays out.