So far this year while there have been some trash and some bombs (Sometimes both). But we’ve also had some surprisingly good movies. Honestly it’s a run of quality that I wasn’t expecting to see again. Especially unexpected was many being in the genre of science fiction, which has suffered badly over the last decade. I don’t want to go into a rant about that here, but it’s been a refreshing run watching “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”, “War Machine” and now “Project Hail Mary”. This is an adaptation of the 2021 novel by the same name, by Andy Weir (Who also wrote the novel “The Martian”).
Project Hail Mary is directed by the team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The pair are mostly famous for their 21/22 Jump Street films from the 2010’s. However they haven’t directed a film since 2014, at least not credited. They were originally directing “Solo: A Star Wars Story” but were fired by Kathleen Kennedy and replaced. That movie then bombed at the box office. This return to science fiction gives them a chance to prove they were not the problem. Ryan Gosling stars. He is supported by James Ortiz, Sandra Hüller and Lionel Boyce. Drew Goddard provides the screenplay, with cinematography by Greig Fraser and Music by Daniel Pemberton.
Mission Into The Unknown
Doctor Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up on a spacecraft, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. This is the result of an induced coma he was put in to for the journey. His memory slowly returns throughout the movie (Which we see via flashbacks). After some initial moments of panic and discovery he recalls his mission and it’s importance. Our sun is dying due to a microorganism known as the “Astrophage”, this will result in catastrophic cooling of the Earth within 30 years. What’s more this phenomenon is affecting every sun in the nearby galaxy save for one – Tau Ceti.
His mission therefore, is to find out why and hopefully send a solution back to Earth. Just the solution though, as he realizes this is a one way mission. On arriving at Tau Ceti, he finds something he never expected, an Alien space craft. After some moments of initial panic, he slowly begins to communicate with the craft and it’s inhabitant. It turns out, Earth isn’t the only planet desperate to find a solution to the Astrophage problem. But now it is down to Grace to find a way to communicate with this alien and then work together to solve the problem and deliver the solution to their respective planets.
Heart of Stone
The movie clocks in at two hours and forty minutes. You would think would make it drag, but despite being somewhat of a slow burner, I barely noticed. The movie tells you backstory to the mission and Grace’s involvement alongside the “Present” story with the alien encounter. This staggered two story narrative really helps to keep you interested, without checking your watch. The two stories have their own tale which works separately, but come together at the end to bring the whole narrative to a new and interesting level. No spoilers, but it’s more character twists than plot twists here. The structure works really well and part of what makes this film good.
That said, the two are not even. The story on Earth quietly poses questions of what it takes to be a hero, but on the whole is mostly there for exposition. Not in a bad way mind, it has fun along the way and we learn a lot about Grace’s personality. The story on Earth is absolutely fine, but it’s not what people will be talking about after. That instead is the experience onboard the spacecraft. While this is very much a science fiction story, it becomes more personal and emotional. On one side it is about first contact and this is done with a a great deal imagination. But ultimately it becomes a buddy movie about a friendship built on necessity, but which grows into a deeper connection. It is emotional and heart warming, but doesn’t neglect a bit of humor and edge of the seat action either.
Building a Legend
Visually speaking, this is a stunning movie. While most of the credit for the story may come from Andy Weir’s novel, turning this into a visual reality and doing it so well is quite an achievement. I have to give credit to Lord, Miller and their cinematographer Greig Fraser. The scenes in space are beautiful, the design of “Rocky” (The alien) are superb. Given this is basically a small, faceless rock creature having it able to emote is a challenge. Eventually Rocky does get a voice (A computer generated translation of his language), but still has to move in a way that makes up feel he is a living, thinking and feeling being. The set designs too are top notch too and even the scenes on Earth are good to look at. This is a beautiful film (In more ways than one).
Obviously, the set up for this film puts a huge weight on the shoulders of Ryan Gosling. I always say when talking about micro-cast movies, but the lead in these circumstances can really make or break it. Fortunately, Hollywood rarely trusts such a role to someone that can’t handle it (We don’t talk about “War of the Worlds” (2025)). Gosling is an exceptional actor and an underrated one, so no surprise he nails it. His Earthbound support is solid too, especially Sandra Hüller who gives a lot of depth to her role without having to spell it all out for the viewer (This isn’t Netflix). But this is definitely the Ryan Gosling show. As well as being the only human for most of it, it is down to him to convince us that “Rocky” is real. Mission accomplished.
Conclusion
You can probably tell by this point this is going to be a high score. I really can’t find much in a way of flaws to this movie. The one flaw perhaps is there seems to be a notable leap from the early stages of communication between Grace and Rocky to being able to create a full translation program. I understand why there is the leap and given the length of the movie, fleshing that section out may well have started pushing the film to the “Too long” territory. However it was a slight knock to my suspension of disbelief. That’s it though, that’s the only negative I have. Other pitfalls have been skillfully avoided. For example, the humour could easily have pushed this film into “Kid’s movie” territory. But it didn’t, it was kept firmly balanced.
This is a movie I believe will resonate with everyone. It’s a rare thing and the only movie I can think of that may perhaps be comparable is “E.T.” (1982). With that in mind, I think this movie is going to absolutely slaughter the box office this year. I went to see it at a preview screening and it was packed, that’s a week before release and in a small town in the UK. Funny how a sci-fi that actually makes you feel good and hopeful and shows positive personality traits can be so incredibly appealing. It is something we have been lacking for a while. So it turns “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” didn’t hold my top posted review score for long at all. Project Hail Mary is a 9/10. Go and see it if you can!
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