The Gist
An elementary science teacher suddenly finds himself waking up on a space shuttle on a mission to safe Earth.
The Review
It sounds like one of the weirdest match-ups that Hollywood could ever imagine. Take the guys responsible for films such as 22 Jump Street and The Lego Movie and put them in charge of bringing a novel written by Andy Weir – a man who writes science fact novels such as The Martian. That idea becomes even wilder when you realise that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also found themselves removed as the directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story due to the fact that LucasFilm felt they couldn’t handle the tone of it.
Yet here we are with Project Hail Mary – once again a science fiction film cemented in Weir’s deeply scientific style of writing. So the big question is – do they do the film justice? And the answer is simple – yes they go above and beyond with this film.
Helped out by a screenplay by Drew Goddard (The Martian) the team tell the story of Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine) – an elementary school science teacher who one day wakes up alone on a space shuttle called the Hail Mary. How he got there – at first he can’t remember.
He then starts to piece the jigsaw puzzle together and remembers that he had been recruited by Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller – The Zone Of Interest) who has been tasked with assembling a team to solve an outer space abnormality that could lead to the end of human existence within 30 years.
Somewhere along the journey though Ryand’s role has changed. He has gone from the man who made a remarkable scientific discovery in a laboratory to now being the sole survivor on a ship sent to outer space to find the answers that will save humanity. Adding to the mystery of what is happening is the fact that Ryland soon discovers that it is not only Earth that is danger and because of that he finds himself having to team up with a faceless rock alien whom he names Rocky (James Ortiz – The Woodsman) in order to find those answers.
When you read the plot of Project Hail Mary you could be forgiven for thinking that it sounds like a huge Guardians Of The Galaxy style adventure – but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, this becomes a deeply serious movie about a man who is forced to face some of humanity’s biggest fears and all while also facing his own mortality. And despite some comedic moments throughout the film for much of the journey the audience find themselves deeply embedded in a storyline that takes some dark turns along the way.
Of course, films about space survival with a tinge of realism certainly aren’t new. There have been the more serious films like Sunshine and Gravity and then of course the big blockbusters like Armageddon, but of those films really only Sunshine is the one that can hold its head high. Armageddon was purely designed for entertainment while Gravity really suffered from the fact that it went for style over substance.
In fact Gravity’s biggest weakness was the fact that it was very difficult to emotionally connect with the characters which of course led to a big problem when the audience was called upon to care what happened to them. That isn’t the case with Project Hail Mary. Despite his reluctance to help in the beginning Ryland is still a likable guy and even Rocky is written in a way where the audience quickly warms to him.
Even the friendship between Ryland and Rocky is believable. We aren’t led to believe that this is an easy thing to happen. They don’t always understand each other and at times perhaps they do accidentally hurt each other but that is the same for any friendship which makes it extremely relatable to the audience. And I dare anyone in the cinema not to feel some tears well up when the two begin to realise some of the darker things that are about to happen.
Some might feel that Project Hail Mary needs more big action set pieces but I am not convinced of that. To send Ryland on too many space walks I feel would take the movie into some very unbelievable territory. Ryland isn’t an action hero he is a scientist – he’s not trained to do many of the things you would expect a hero like character to do and the dangerous things that he does here are done out of necessity. The fact that he isn’t trained to do them made me feel that the suspense was raised even further at those times because there was more of an element of danger for what he was doing. The fact that the directors had the skill to make those scenes feel realistic only added even more to that suspense.
Credit must also be paid to Ryan Gosling for his performance. He carries this movie and is virtually in every scene. He never over-acts or over does the comedy and it is that balanced performance that helps make Ryland a character that the audience cares about. Likewise, Sandra Huller is amazing as the stoic and gruff Eva. You can see that her character wants to get close to her crew but can’t and that inner battle is told on Huller’s face throughout the film.
The Verdict
Any doubt that Lord and Miller were not up to the task with Project Hail Mary is quickly eradicated as the film goes on. There is just the right mix of drama, comedy and suspense throughout the film while Gosling’s performance and the creative presence around Rocky makes this a film that is going to be loved by generations to come.
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