Project Hail Mary Review
Big, fun, energetic and blockbuster certified, this space odyssey will have you cheering for both of our two leads - human or not.
Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he soon discovers he must solve the riddle behind a mysterious substance that is causing the sun to die out. As details of the mission unravel, he calls on his scientific training and sheer ingenuity - but he may not have to do it alone.
Project Hail Mary, based on a novel from the same guy who wrote The Martian, shares a lot of similarities in terms of broad strokes plot with that earlier film. Where it differs most is undoubtedly in its road trip buddy dynamic.
Rocky and Grace are a bantering, fun time pair that are enigmatic and electric on screen, and they light it up every time they are on it (which, to be fair, is most of the film). This movie has a decidedly more jokey tone than you might expect for a life and death space adventure, but it’s also undeniably funny, and equally endearing. You’ll find yourself genuinely caring for the duo, and in particular the little Rocky who is brought to life wonderfully with both CGI and real life puppetry.
The visuals also astound. Unlike other equally gorgeous space films like Ad Astra or Interstellar, Project Hail Mary leans into a more colourful, exploratory palette. From the crystalline rendering of Rocky’s spaceship to the neon gases of a planet, this movie really plays with the full spectrum.
The way the film is laid out also aids it, as you slowly unravel the mystery behind Grace’s presence on the ship at the same time as you work out how Rocky and Grace plan to solve their collective problem. Perhaps the actual solve could have been a little more clever than the mcguffin the duo eventually find, but the path to discovery is a blast.
Project Hail Mary suffers only perhaps in its lack of a clear villain and its impact on the structure. The film feels a little long at times, and while The Martian had no external villain other than circumstance, that film at least had a clear end point - arriving back on Earth. Here, the film suffers from having multiple ‘endings’, and it can drag a little.
Overall, Project Hail Mary is a wonderfully entertaining big screen space epic, with plenty of humour and pathos mixed in there. It might not touch the heights of say an Interstellar, but its a worthy entry in to the pantheon of space exploring epics.
