THE MARTIAN | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE MARTIAN"
(2015) (Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Sci-Fi/Drama: An astronaut must contend with being accidentally left for dead on Mars by his crew that's abandoned the planet, all while those at NASA try to figure out a way to bring him home.

PLOT:

It's the eighteenth day of NASA's exploration of Mars led by commander Melissa Lewis (JESSICA CHASTAIN). When a sudden storm strikes and threatens to tip over their escape rocket, she and her crew -- Mark Watney (MATT DAMON), Rick Martinez (MICHAEL PENA), Beth Johanssen (KATE MARA), Chris Beck (SEBASTIAN STAN) and Alex Vogel (AKSEL HENNIE) -- try to make their way through the blinding storm at night. But a piece of debris strikes Mark and blasts him off into the darkness. Melissa desperately wants to find him, but with readings showing his pressurized suit was compromised, the others assure her he's dead and that they must lift off now.

They do and begin their multi-month trip back toward Earth, unaware that Mark survived the accident. After tending to his injury, and despite knowing the long odds against him and the years it would take before a rescue flight could get to him, he decides he's going to live as long as possible via his current provisions and any improvising he can cook up. With no initial way for him to communicate his status back to Earth, NASA director Teddy Sanders (JEFF DANIELS), with the guidance of his director of media relations, Annie Montrose (KRISTEN WIIG), announces to the world that Mark perished on the red planet.

But when satellite photos show odd movement around the presumably deserted Mars compound, Vincent Kapoor (CHIWETEL EJIOFOR), the director of the Mars mission, realizes Mark is still alive. And thus while the stranded astronaut improvises his survival, Sanders and the rest of his NASA team -- including NASA flight director Mitch Henderson (SEAN BEAN), JPL director Bruce Ng (BENEDICT WONG) and astrodynamics engineer Rich Purnell (DONALD GLOVER) -- try to come up with a way to send him provisions as soon as possible or, more boldly, figure out how to rescue him with Melissa's crew.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: It could prove enticing to some kids, especially if they're into space travel, science and such, or who are fans of Matt Damon or others in the cast.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For some strong language, injury images, and brief nudity.

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