PROJECT HAIL MARY: A Crowd-Pleasing, Visually Stunning Space Adventure

There’s something inescapably alluring about a big, booming sci-fi adventure film. These movies have the capacity to stun, thrill, and move you, all while blowing you away with some truly magnificent visuals. It was the case in 2015’s The Martian, also based on an Andy Weir novel, which is anongst the finer sci-fis to come out in recent years.

Project Hail Mary may not be quite as memorable as that Matt Damon-star vehicle, but still, this one hits all the marks, and it should be noted that this needs to be seen on the largest screen available. It’s for movies like this that IMAX theaters were made.

The Premise

Project Hail Mary is set in a universe where our planet is slowly dying. There are these mysterious small dots, called astrophages, that are slowly feeding on the sun’s energy, and it is estimated that the sun will completely die within thirty years. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle school teacher, is recruited to help with the issue, given his past research into the origins of life.

The second timeline shows Grace already on a spaceship headed towards a distant planet, not quite knowing how he got there but slowly putting the pieces together that he was sent there to study this distant star, which is similarly affected with astrophage but is not dying like our own sun. While there, he meets an alien from another solar system, who is also there to study this issue; the two form a bond while simultaneously trying to save their respective planets.

The Budget and Charm

Project Hail Mary‘s plot is familiar to sci-fi, with the idea of humanity being saved by traversing to distant parts of the universe. Yet, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also inject the film with their own unique brand of humor alongside an elevated budget that is as vast as the universe itself. The visuals in this film are often quite stunning, whether the vibrant displays of distant planets, the impressive inner details of the spaceships, or the adorable portrayal of the alien, aptly named Rocky.

It also helps that Andy Weir‘s original novel is also quite captivating. The story of spacedots somehow eating up our sun may sound quite odd on its face, but he approaches it in a universal way, bringing us into this world with his trademark manner of science jargon alongside a healthy dose of humor. It’s not hand-holding so much as being a helpful tour guide, leading us through an adventure in the world he has so painstakingly created. Lord and Miller follow suit, by not making the science of the film too heavy, and instead letting the visuals and character interactions speak for themselves. Personally, I would have enjoyed at least a few more doses of science lessons, but still, it’s understandable why they choose to ignore some of this in favor of feel-good moments.

One of the standouts of this film is Ryan Gosling‘s everyman persona, which is about as charming as he has been in recent years, giving humor and heartfelt emotion to the role. The best moments here are easily his interactions with Rocky, who, befitting his name, is a small, tentacally, stony creature who communicates with warbling vibrations and doesn’t have any discernible face or expressions. Controlled by puppets as opposed to CGI, the production team here has given this tiny creature an immense personality; imagine Wall-E blended with ET but resembling a pile of stitched-together boulders. He is also given a voice at one point by using a translation app (voiced by James Ortiz), and some of Rocky’s confused and innocent dialogue are amongst the funniest moments of the film. Rocky and Grace soon form a fast bond in their attempts to solve their respective astrophage issues, resulting in some funny moments as well as some well-earned tearjerkers.

Lack of Tension

One of the ways that Project Hail Mary falls somewhat short, though, is in its lack of action. There are emotive moments aplenty, especially when we witness the growing connection between Grace and Rocky. There are the visually momentous moments as well, often with the music cranked so high by music composer Daniel Pemberton that it’s hard not to feel blown away by such beauty coupled with sound. But what’s missing here is the conflict.

There is really only one big moment in this film where Grace and Rocky have to solve a task, which is to get to the surface of a planet and collect a sample. As tense as this one scene is, it’s really the only one in the movie that has any stakes behind it. And once it’s over, that’s it. It makes the film’s overall effect feel more saccarhine that it otherwise would be. If these are real characters with the fates of their species at stake, we should really feel that more. The end result is something akin to the silly and emotive moments of a movie like ET, but without the wrenching tension that eventually elevates that film. This is a movie more likely to be remembered for its visuals and style than substance.

Overall Takeaway

At the end of the day, Project Hail Mary is a nice crowd-pleaser. It’s a film that doesn’t expect much from you as far as a scientific backfround, it is a visually stunning and alluring experience, and it has Ryan Gosling interacting with a cute rocky alien. It may not be a groundbreaking achievement that will cause us to question our place in the universe and existence itself, but it’s sure to give you some escapist entertainment for 2+ hours. So at the end of the day, what more could you ask for?

Project Hail Mary is now playing worldwide in theaters.