The movie commits a few science sins, but it doesn’t detract from the effort.

Hi friends!

I know, I know…I’m SUPER late to this party, but I’ve been busy working on the Ottawa Shootings Documentary for CKNW (aside: you can listen to that here ).

Now that that’s out of the way, we can get down to show business here!

Yes, I did see The Martian, which includes a great crew of actors – Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The plot is simple: an astronaut (Damon) is left behind on Mars after his crew believe him to be dead (the results of being caught in a powerful windstorm) – and now he has to survive.

I would argue this has been one of the most anticipated movies of the year (it’s no Star Wars: the Force Awakens, but the chatter was enough to bring in $329 million dollars – and that’s just so far), and rightfully so.

The movie’s science is incredible. This is no Armageddon where you’re going to get tons of inaccuracies. There are still a few things wrong with it, so all the science geeks may cry foul a few times, but a number of folks with NASA did do some consulting for the movie. I did roll my eyes at a part of the ending; it did seem a little silly (parts of how they tried to get him off Mars, I mean) but I can forgive that.

Effects are top notch. It’s tough to complain about anything. You really do feel as though you’re on Mars. Two things, if I had to nit-pick: while I appreciate Matt Damon in the main role, I’ve seen him as too many other characters that I find it a little tough to believe he is Mark Watney. Also, I wasn’t impressed with some of the pacing. There could have been better edits to help keep the story going, but there were moments where I thought to myself, “please…really, we don’t need to be in this scene anymore. The point’s been made. Next!”

But Martian’s game is strong and you end up leaving the theatre feeling like you were lost in the solar system, but in a good way. Highly recommended; 8.5 lost astronauts out of 10.

Still need to decide? Check out the trailer below!