Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – Starring Ryan Gosling
A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship, and as his memory returns, he discovers that he is on a mission to save Earth.
Project Hail Mary reminds me of those blockbuster movies from the 90s and 2000s. Movies that didn’t necessarily belong to a franchise or fit neatly into one genre. They just grabbed you and took you somewhere for a couple of hours.
It’s funny, touching, suspenseful, heartwarming, and has a few surprises up its sleeve. It also gave us the greatest movie alien we’ve ever had. I will not argue this point. This blog believes in a Rocky supremacy.
Based on the novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian, the film begins with Ryan Gosling waking up alone in space with no idea how he got there. From there, the story gradually fills in the missing pieces through flashbacks while the situation aboard the ship continues moving forward.
Gosling carries most of the film, and it reminded me how good he can be. While he does some of that familiar Ryan Gosling thing — charming, funny, slightly goofy — he also navigates fear, confusion, excitement, and loneliness.
Sandra Hüller and Lionel Boyce play off Gosling’s energy really well, and they’re at the center of some of the film’s more heartbreaking moments.
So much of Project Hail Mary is about connection, and by introducing Rocky, we get a platonic love story for the ages. The relationship that develops between him and Gosling’s Ryland Grace gives the movie a warmth I wasn’t expecting, and some of their scenes together become surprisingly emotional.
Project Hail Mary kept finding new ways to entertain me. It’s an outer-space adventure, a science-fiction mystery, occasionally terrifying, frequently funny, and much more emotional than I expected. Most importantly, it’s got a lot of heart.
Verdict: Excellent
Leave a Reply