The Martian

The Martian has got its fair share of hype, largely down to the enormous popularity of Andy Weir's novel.

A great plot idea mixed with humour and logical science meant the book flew off the shelves and Ridley Scott does well here to stick with that winning formula.

Continuing his good recent form (although fair to say Exodus and Prometheus don't match his prolific earlier career) The Martian is great weekend entertainment and the two and a half hour run-time breezes by.

Matt Damon is perfectly cast as stranded botanist Mark Watney. He's eminently watchable here and experienced enough to know when you're on your own and acting to camera you've got to keep things light and likeable.

The script is laugh-out-loud funny in places but never detracts from how serious the situation is. The science doesn't baffle like Nolan's Interstellar although the Mars scenes do play with the truth somewhat (you can't get storms on Mars, for example.)

Back on Earth the pace does slow but the boardroom scenes are brisk enough and kept afloat by massive actors in small parts led by the ever-rising Chiwetel Ejiofor. Even the other crew members are likeable enough (if slightly one-dimensional.)

So we've seen it all before, we really don't need any more space films this year and the crowds of people gathering around the world to watch the final rescue is totally unnecessary and unbelievable especially as there would have been no live footage.

A very good watch though and, in our opinion, better than Gravity and Interstellar.

4 stars ****