New film The Martian blasted off and landed itself as the top box office spot in its debut weekend.  The Martian has reigned as the top spot in the box office for the past four weeks.  The only exception was in its third week in theatres where it fell to the number two spot due to the release of Goosebumps; however, it was back to the number one spot in the box office the very next week.

The story is based on an expedition to Mars that went awfully wrong and had to be aborted because of a sandstorm.  However, one member of the crew was left behind as he was thought to be dead.  Enter Mark Watney, our film’s interplanetary castaway, who must find ways to survive on Mars and communicate with Earth to coordinate a rescue effort, leaving the film’s conflict.  Can Watney get home?

This movie was rather good; it is a very enjoyable mix of science fiction, fantasy, with even some comedy thrown in.  The way in which they presented the science behind the film was very well put so that the common person could understand it, although it was wrong on at least one occasion.  The only fault in the movie was the similarity to other castaway films, such as Cast Away, where it is simply the creativity and intelligence of a single man against the harsh brutality of Mother Nature.  However, the ingenuities of the film, such as Watney being on Mars and the entire rescue side of the film, keep it lively and fresh.  A major plus to the film is the insight into NASA, as well as the Chinese space program, plus for all the nerds out there the movie is full of nerdy quips and references.  The film’s soundtrack is purely Disco, as that was the only type of music that the crew brought on the mission.
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Overall The Martian is quite enjoyable and a great conversation topic if you go see the film with friends or family. However, it’s nothing truly amazing.