“Project Hail Mary” is an adaptation of the 2021 best-selling novel by Andy Weir. In a world where the Sun’s energy is being eaten by an alien lifeform named “Astrophage,” middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) finds himself in space on a suicide mission to find a solution and potentially something else.
Check out our review from two different perspectives: one part from the perspective of a science-fiction fan who read the book before the movie’s release, and the other from the perspective of an outsider witnessing the story for the first time.
A Reader’s Review:
As an avid science-fiction fan, I found myself reading the book when it came out in 2021, and I instantly fell in love with it. When I heard of an adaptation helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, I knew it would be good. I’m glad to report that I was totally right.
The movie stands out in basically every measure it could. Ryan Gosling gives one of the best performances he’s ever done, perfectly capturing both the intellectual scientist and emotional friend sides to Grace’s character. His co-star, Sandra Hüller, is also exactly as I imagined Eva Stratt to be, the steadfast yet warm global coordinator of the mission to save Earth. Of course, I can’t forget about Rocky (voiced by James Ortiz), who is the heart and soul of the story. Ortiz perfectly captures the simulated emotion of the dialogue and matches, if not one-ups, Gosling in a few scenes.
Rocky’s physical character, too, is an incredible example of the film’s commitment to authenticity. Rocky, instead of being a solely computer-generated (CG) character, is actually a real puppet piloted by five puppeteers, all helping give him his adventurous and spirited personality. The entire film, as Lord and Miller have touted on the press tour, doesn’t have a single green screen shot. Instead, they focused on making everything feel real by, well, making it actually real.
My favorite shot in the whole movie, which was featured in the trailers, is when Grace is outside on a spacewalk facing a green planet and the camera switches to infrared, changing the shot into a tear-jerking collage of blinking red dots. Guess what? That was practical too! “Project Hail Mary” isn’t just one of the best sci-fi films to come out, honestly, ever; it’s also a testament to physicality and dedication in filmmaking. Instead of taking the easy way out, slapping Ryan Gosling on a green screen for two and a half hours and making him talk to a tennis ball on a stick, they crafted the world with complete care, and it definitely shows.
If you’re looking to see any movie this year, please make it this one. Watch it on the biggest screen you can, soak in the story, the colors, the brilliant music by Daniel Pemberton and come out knowing you’ve seen a definitive Oscar-competitor. “Project Hail Mary” easily gets five out of five-stars from me and has cemented itself as one of my favorite movies of all time.
An Outsider’s Review:
As someone who had gone into the movie without reading the book and with low expectations, I came out with a newfound liking of Sci Fi movies. While I normally stick to the horror genre, “Project Hail Mary” presented an emotionally heart-wrenching story.
Featuring Harry Styles’ song “Sign of the Times” released in 2017, was a creative choice that worked in favor of the movie. The song paired with Grace’s coma only further emphasizes the idea that the mission is a suicide mission in which all of the people on board have a limited amount of time. Clearly, this film was Ryan Gosling’s passion project, as both the shots and character design and development are groundbreaking. The costume design, set design and atmosphere that the crew created is extraordinary. In particular, the shot of the sea-side view that the audience experiences, in a way, makes it feel as if you were on the sand staring out into the horizon. This ultimately sets the benchmark for how far one can go with modern technology.
Before I learned that Rocky was a puppet, I thought, like everyone else, that he was simply a computer-generated image (CGI). While enhanced by CGI, the puppet itself displays the effort the design team went through to capture each one of his details.
The story was surprisingly easy to follow, and unlike other book-to-movie adaptations, it didn’t appear to stray away from the storyline in the book. Furthermore, the timeskips were easily distinguishable, allowing me to understand when and why something happened, rather than just guessing. My only critique was that at times it was confusing, such as how the other astronauts died, as the audience is left to speculate.
Like “The Conjuring,” “Project Hail Mary” sets new standards for the genre, thus pushing future movies to reach the same amount of performance. Paired with Nerds Gummy Clusters, popcorn and a fresh Diet Coke, “Project Hail Mary” is a captivating, eye-catching movie that I would recommend everyone experience. At the bare minimum, this movie deserves a four-star rating out of five and an Oscar nomination.
