The arrival of the new Ryan Gosling-led science fiction adventure film “Project Hail Mary” last Friday saw packed theaters across the country, including at Oxford’s branch of Malco Theatres. It’s easy to understand why this movie struck a major chord with audiences. Put simply, “Project Hail Mary” is an earnest, optimistic and visually stimulating science fiction piece that plays well to almost any large audience.
“Project Hail Mary” is an adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 science fiction novel of the same name. The story follows Ryland Grace, a middle school biology teacher unwillingly brought onto an international space mission to uncover the mystery of an unknown parasite. The novel became a phenomenon for sci-fi fans upon its release, becoming a mega best-seller and Hugo Award finalist.
Weir had previously penned “The Martian,” which was adapted in a 2015 film starring Matt Damon. “Project Hail Mary” and “The Martian” each tell stories of everyman heroes surviving nightmarish space travel scenarios, but the similarities end there. “Project Hail Mary” tells a much larger story than “The Martian,” with aliens, world-ending stakes and separate galaxies. The film adaptation comes through with some stunning visuals to accompany this escalation of stakes.
The film’s marketing materials have heavily promoted the stellar space photography, but props must also be given to the production designers. This is an immaculately lit film.
The film’s two directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, got their start directing animated films such as “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” and “The Lego Movie.” They have spent most of their time over the past few years as creative executives on Sony’s “Spiderverse” films, so their background in animation certainly rears its head at multiple points in the film.
The witty visuals interspersed throughout are delightful. I particularly enjoyed a silhouetted spacewalk early in the film. Meanwhile, the shots of planets, stars and the ship itself conjure a sense of grandeur not unlike the original “Star Trek” film.
The visuals of the film are only part of why it succeeds. Gosling gives a predictably likable and relatable performance as Ryland Grace, thrust headfirst into a high-stakes mission to outer space. He is believable as a science teacher with his realistically nerdy performance. Despite the presence of his alien sidekick, the film is certainly a one-man show for Gosling. Sandra Hüller does make a brief appearance as Eva Strutt – head of the Hail Mary project who recruits Grace – and she has a couple standout moments before the attention shifts back to Gosling.
The film follows the book rather closely but omits large chunks of the hard science. It focuses more on the character moments between Grace and his companion on the journey instead. As a story about friendship, the film effectively tugs on heartstrings — just as the book did.
My biggest gripe was with the humor, which feels rather dulled and dumbed-down from the book. The quips and jokes are not irritating, but I found the humor to be the least remarkable part of the film. The humor rarely, if ever, compromises tension, but sometimes the screenplay veers into redundancy. The film has a quality ending, but the third act does not feel nearly as tense or as thrilling as the early portions.
Regardless, “Project Hail Mary” is still absolutely a film that deserves massive success. Similar to last summer’s “Superman,” this film continues a trend of colorful and good-hearted blockbusters. It is the kind of movie that is so likeable, it is an obvious recommendation.
