The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015)

The red planet will be a sobering place when and if we even get there; our expectations built up by so much guff about what an environment of promise it is by a full genre of films. Sure, most of the recent ones have involved people dying in horrible ways under attack from the elements, alien technology or ghosts, and The Martian can be seen as part of the sci-fi sub-genre harking back to 2001, seeking to restore some sense of proportion and realism, alongside, say Gravity or even Interstellar until it went postal. And I suppose mankind cannot bear too much reality, so there has to be some hope to cling on to. In this case, it's the notion that radiation wouldn't kill Matt Damon's stranded astronaut in an instant, after he's done surgery on himself and that he could get a potato crop started in the poisonous soil to live on. But maybe I'm too churlish; it is good, at times thrilling popcorn which also involves emotionally, and deserves some plaudits for that. Just don't tell me that it tells it like it is.

6/10