It’s been a few years since Andy Weir’s book, The Martian, was adapted to the big screen by Ridley Scott. That story showed us an isolated man in space that only had his thoughts and journals to keep him company. Now, we have Weir’s 2021 book, Project Hail Mary (which is a great audiobook, by the way). It gives us another isolated man in space, but this time, the stakes are upped and… he’s not alone.
When we enter the story, a science teacher named Ryland Grace wakes up on a ship headed to the far reaches of space. It has somehow fallen on him to retrieve a substance that can prevent the death of our sun. If he fails, the human race will die.
Yet, while in his travels, he is visited by another cosmic traveler, a rock-like alien that has the same mission. Together, they find ways to communicate and brainstorm how their worlds can be saved.
One thing that is immediately clear is the feeling of this being a Phil Lord and Chris Miller movie. Together, they’ve only directed a handful of movies (21/22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). But their creativity and humorous leanings improve every movie they’re involved in whether it’s writing or producing. It also doesn’t hurt that the screenplay was written by Drew Goddard. The novel is humorous in its way, but the movie takes the fish out of water elements, combined with Ryan Gosling’s charisma, and the movie is near-constantly clever and smile-worthy.
I’ve been so disappointed with Gosling’s career choices for a large part of the last decade. He gave the impression that he was coasting. With his role as Grace, the movie rests on his shoulders. Yes, there’s pivotal flashbacks, but he is the sole human element as to why this movie works.
As to the non-human element, Rocky is so simple in design and fully practical, that I truly want his species to exist somewhere out there. Once he is introduced, this becomes the story of a burgeoning friendship. It’s a plot that becomes the focus of the movie, that it’s easy to forget that there’s a potentially fatal countdown looming.
So much time is spent on the two characters just sitting and enjoying each other’s company, that I wonder if kids seeing this movie will wonder when the action is going to happen. At times, it may even be considered slow-paced. Yet, the experience is just so charming, that it’s easy to watch their friendship grow.
Very minor quibble here, but don’t come into this movie expecting to get much more than basic scientific jargon. The plot “yada-yada’s” any sort of Grace’s discoveries or the science that goes into this fiction. In the book, his confusion, fear, and victories are shared through his inner monologue. Yet, in the movie, we essentially watch Grace awkwardly figure stuff out rather easily. It’s shorthand that’s necessary for general audiences, but the science (and characterization) within the novel is actually quite interesting.
To describe this for anyone nervous to see the movie, I’d say it’s a really palatable combination of Arrival and Interstellar, with a great story of teamwork and friendship mixed in.
Project Hail Mary is a movie that feels familiar. It beckons back to the golden days where Amblin movies showed us a world that inspired joy and creativity. It rushes through the technical side, to deliver a comfortable and humorous adventure full of heart. It’s so refreshing to get a movie like this. A-
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