Caught a Thursday showing of the new Matt Damon movie The Martian, about an astronaut marooned on Mars with only his mastery of potato farming and science to save him. This is a very good movie based on an even better book. It’s plot and story elements are all based on realistic science so everything Damon does has a believable scientific merit (better explained – in some detail – in the very detail-oriented novel). But it’s also a very human movie with a very sardonic and amusing pop culture sense of humor and a bit of a message about science, exploration, and discovery.

Not sure what there’s to say about it – Matt Damon’s astronaut must “science the shit out of this” – his predicament, in order to survive. The movie does a fine job of explaining what the astronaut and the various NASA/JPL folk back on Earth are doing to save him through on-camera logs and discussions These do a fine job of providing exposition in a reasonably clear way without seeming like they are talking down to the audience.

So, overall, a very good movie that I recommend. It’s not super action-packed and, in fact, can be pretty sedate sometimes but I was never bored which is saying something for a movie that largely follows the plot points of the book. I say check it out, especially if you liked the book, hard science in a movie that assumes the audience isn’t dumb, or just something that’s different from the usual Hollywood flick.

Score: 89