The Martian

First off, I did like this movie.  A lot.  I thought Matt Damon did a great job as an astronaut left stranded alone on Mars.  Besides just needing to figure out how to survive, he had to try to find a way to make contact with NASA and possibly be rescued.  In doing all of this, he was incredibly resourceful!  Especially for being the only one on the planet for a very, very long period of time.  I guess I’d say my only “issue” with all of it is that I was thinking I would feel a little more “despair” or times of hopelessness through the movie – maybe like the film Castaway, only on Mars.  It seemed more upbeat than I thought it would be, which isn’t a bad thing, just not quite what I was expecting.  I’m sure he had his down moments, but maybe that wouldn’t have been as fun to watch as him trying to grow potatoes and listening to disco music that was left behind.  There was a good balance, but just felt like it could have been a little more intense overall.  I really did like it – just more in a “fun” disaster-movie kind of way…