“Project Hail Mary” is the newest film based on a novel by Andy Weir, creator of “The Martian”. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of “Into the Spider-Verse”, “21 Jump Street”, and “The LEGO Movie” fame directed the feature.
The film follows Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, after he wakes up from a coma on a spacecraft far from Earth with no memory of how he got there or who he is. Quickly realizing he is the only survivor of the three-person team, he slowly remembers his mission. The sun is dimming due to an organism called Astrophage, and he must find a way to stop it and save the Earth and humanity from catastrophic global cooling.
The film exudes the creative flair and humor of Lord and Miller. The usage of the camera and moving it with the spaceship and Gosling’s character to transition between the present and the flashback sequences on Earth is really unique and good cinematic language created by Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, whose recent works include the first two parts of the “Dune” trilogy and “The Batman”.
The use of a narrower letterbox in those sequences, to contrast with the full screen when back in the present of space, both grounds the Earth scenes and allows the majesty of space to take full effect.
The CGI and practical sets work so seamlessly together that you believe he is in a spaceship, dealing with the consequences of zero- and centrifugal gravity. Gosling’s screen partner, Rocky, a rock creature from the planet 40 Eridani, shares much of the movie with him and is a great example of practical puppetry and CGI. Never a moment where you don’t believe Rocky isn’t there. It’s a funny film with a few jokes that maybe go too cartoonish, but they are very few and still a good chuckle.
Lord and Miller are a masterclass in heartfelt comedy and emotional storytelling throughout the movie, especially between Gosling and Rocky.
The music is top-tier, a haunting and beautiful score that helps transcend many scenes and is familiar to Interstellar, with which this movie shares striking similarities. The Earth is in critical danger, and a small group of astronauts goes up in hopes of finding a solution. If you liked Interstellar, there’s a good chance you’ll like this movie as well.
I don’t want to say it goes in a more exciting direction than Nolan’s movie, but perhaps a more fun direction than Interstellar ultimately did, but that’s just this one reviewer’s opinion.
Overall, a fun, emotional, and beautiful film that I highly recommend seeing.
