What’s all the fuss about Mars? First there was a rover, then scientists discovered liquid water, and now there’s a guy stranded there.

Wait, what?

The Martian, based off Andy Weir’s novel of the same title, stars Matt Damon as the astronaut/botanist/mechanical engineer/comedian, Mark Watney. The movie follows the story line very closely, and some lines were the same ones found on the pages of the book.

The ‘Martian landscapes’ are beautiful, miles of red sand stretching in every direction from the HAB, Watney’s base on Mars. All of the spacecrafts and technology have an eye-catching futuristic look to them that wasn’t unrealistic, given that the first trip to Mars isn’t for another 10 years, and in the movie, Watney is a member of the third trip.

The Martian has a diverse cast, and a good mix of big name actors combined with B-listers and a few actors you would probably have trouble recognizing from anything, but talented nonetheless.

However, the plot seemed to drag on longer than it should have. Sometimes it felt like they were going so fast, seeing as Watney was on the planet for roughly two years. But at other parts, it seemed slow, as the movie is two and a half hours of watching Watney alone on a planet. Overall it was a was a good film and deserves a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.