Project Hail Mary : Review

  A high stakes space adventure story about friendship, camaraderie and overcoming the odds, definitely worth experiencing on the big screen.

The latest Ryan Gosling starrer, Project Hail Mary, spends most of its time aboard a spaceship thousands of miles from Earth. Based on the 2021 novel of the same name, it follows an under achieving high school teacher and biologist Ryland Grace as he wakes aboard the spaceship from a coma alone and without any memory of how he got there and more importantly, why. The audience (and Grace) learn about his mission titled Project Hail Mary in numerous flashbacks as the aim of his journey is revealed - the Sun and all other stars except one, Tau Ceti, are dying due to astrophage, an alien microorganism that is literally feeding on them. Grace and a few select others are part of a team that is investigating Tau Ceti to learn why it is seemingly unaffected by astrophage.

Grace finds that his other crew members are dead and he spends most of his initial time loitering, drinking and trying to remember. Once his memories start to return, he figures out the why but not entirely how he actually made the journey. He then sets about creating a plan to investigate Tau Ceti. When his spaceship approaches Tau Ceti, he encounters another larger spaceship just outside the star’s orbit.

This is where the film really picks up. The larger spaceship initiates contact with Grace who eventually meets Rocky (named so because of his appearance), another alien who is surprisingly in the same situation as Grace - he is a mechanic who is also there to save his planet Erid and his crew members have also died leaving him alone. The highlight of the movie is definitely the bond that is created between the two main characters. Although they can’t communicate in the same way and wouldn't even survive in each other’s habitat, they are still able to relate to each other’s situation and motivation. The movie makes a point in showing how even other species may have similarities when it comes to relationships, emotions and feelings to humans. Another supporting character is Eva Stratt played by accomplished German actor Sandra Hüller. She heads the international task force and is the one who personally picks out Grace for the mission. Most of her interaction with Grace is shown as part of flashbacks and her performance as a seemingly distant but capable leader is also quite strong.

Ryan Gosling brings his signature charm to this movie and shines in the leading role. His character is shown to be very smart, skillful and yet unfulfilled with not much worth fighting for in his life. His constant quips with his counterpart Rocky feel very natural. He feels quite at home, especially nailing different emotions with his facial expressions and voice tones.

The cinematography is excellent even though most of the space sequences are understandably CGI and is one of the main reasons for enjoying this film on the big screen. There is a nice mix of funny dialog to cut the tension but enough suspense filled sequences to uphold the high stakes. The final act is slightly rushed but delivers enough to leave the audience satisfied. Although an argument can be made that it ends up being a bit too pie-in-the-sky. Another criticism can be directed towards the way Grace actually ends up in space. This is revealed towards the end of the movie and makes his character look a bit weak but perhaps the intention was to make him look more believable as an everyday normal guy then instead of a world-saving hero that he ultimately ends up being.

Overall, the movie is definitely a treat especially for lovers of space sci-fi gems such as Interstellar and is already the third highest grossing movie (Wikipedia) of the year so far.

Picture courtesy: https://www.sonypictures.co.uk/movies/project-hail-mary