The Martian is a film about human error, the will to survive, and the responsibility that we have as human beings, not just to the work that we dedicate our lives to, but to one another as people.

| Apr 12, 2017

A half-hour into The Martian any seasoned moviegoer can figure out where the plotline in this feel-good movie has to go. That's a shame and the film's biggest transgression.

| Mar 15, 2017

Despite being marketed under the mainstream bait of a "space movie," The Martian is, more than anything, a love letter to science, without ever feeling like a boring textbook.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 23, 2017

I have no idea if the science in The Martian is accurate. It sure felt accurate, which is all that matters in a way. On top of being wildly entertaining, the film is about using your wits to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 12, 2016

It's just a cracklingly good entertainment, a crowd-pleaser that's compelling and emotional and even a little inspirational.

| May 3, 2016

Damon has never seemed more at home than he does here, millions of miles adrift. Would any other actor have shouldered the weight of the role with such diligent grace?

| Dec 8, 2015

If Damon manages to get into the awards fray for this role -- and he should -- it will be thanks to the fact that he makes it easy to understand how a desperate man could still find a way to laugh.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 8, 2015

It's pretty sunny and often funny, a space oddity for a director not known for pictures with a sense of humor.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 8, 2015

Bringing optimism, nerd-itude and a touch of crazy to his character's solo ordeal -- at one point, scraggly Watney calls himself a "space pirate" -- Damon is the key to the movie's exuberance.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 5, 2015

cott's directorial skills are such that for much of the film you're rooted to your seat as Damon's Mark Watney struggles to survive.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 26, 2015

This is still a very nerdy movie, with lots of botany and physics and "we ran the numbers and it checks out," but most of the book's wonkiness is ironed out in favor of moving the story along more pleasingly for the science-allergic.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 8, 2015

The film is a profound testament to the rare-and underrated-virtue of simply not screwing anything up.

| Oct 4, 2015

The Martian delivers on both intergalactic spectacle and feet-in-the-soil character drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 4, 2015

After Body of Lies, Prometheus and Exodus: Gods and Kings, it's good to see Ridley Scott get back some of his lost form in The Martian.

| Oct 2, 2015

We are so used to sci-fi movies in which the heroes shoot martians with ray guns that Scott's botanical approach can't help but seem offbeat and refreshing.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 2, 2015

The Martian plays to both Scott's strengths and weaknesses. By relegating Mark's predicament to a purely survivalist scenario, he keeps things humming along without ever widening the horizon. But there was an obligation to widen the horizon.

| Original Score: B | Oct 2, 2015

Cynical as I am about how monster-budget blockbusters have come to dominate the studio mind-set, I can't imagine anyone not liking this one.

| Oct 2, 2015

Hell, I'm scared of simply sleeping outdoors and I walked out of the movie with just the tiniest daydream of strapping myself into a rocket and shooting for the stars (ideally with Matt Damon as my co-pilot).

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 2, 2015

Turns out getting stranded on Mars can lead to a whole lot of fun.

| Original Score: B | Oct 2, 2015

This is an exciting, absorbing story, an adventure with a genuine hero whose courage, fortitude, and intelligence will spark the hero inside anyone who see it.

| Original Score: A- | Oct 1, 2015