Sequels. Prequels. Reboots. Re-imaginings. Spinoffs. Shared universes.
And, of course, the rise of A.I. slop.
We’ve grown numb to films that look and feel all too familiar, and we often flock to see them anyway. It’s almost like comfort food – safe, reassuring and bland. Along comes “Project Hail Mary,” and it’s a course correction of the first order.
The story, based on the novel by Andy Weir of “The Martian” fame, packs so much humor, heart and humanity into its two-plus hour running time that it feels dizzying. That’s above and beyond the superlative turn by star Ryan Gosling.
There’s enough originality from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“The LEGO Movie”) to fill a dozen movie theaters. And here we are, eager to savor it in one, admittedly overlong bite.
Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, an aw, shucks biology teacher pressed into the most unusual service. Ominous reports are tracking an outer space substance infiltrating the sun.
And, slowly but surely, extinguishing it.
Ryland’s unorthodox thinking got him kicked out of the Science, Inc. community, but a determined international task force leader named Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) thinks he might be the one to save the world.
The film’s smart story structure follows Ryland as he tries to crack the crisis from the confines of space. And, along the way, we get rigorously structured flashbacks to show how he got here in the first place.
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The storytelling is relentlessly smart, from the strong performances to the way that intricate theories are presented as both bright and accessible. Gosling may be movie-star handsome, but his vulnerability is what sells the character.
He’s a puzzle solver of the highest order, but he isn’t sure he has the heroism side of the equation nailed down. Nor do we, which makes “Project Hail Mary” all the more exhilarating.
The film’s first act is darn near flawless, and we’re absorbed by the quest and its sticky obstacles. Midway through, Ryland learns he’s not alone. That part of the film takes a quirkier path, opening the story up in ways that are fascinating and, to be fair, often trite.
It feels cynical to frame it as such, especially when we’re witnessing a crowd-pleasing film brimming with wit and ingenuity. The film may lose some older viewers here, potentially, as well as those who still haven’t forgiven George Lucas for those blasted Ewoks.
The film’s sturdy structure never fades. In ways, it only grows richer.
FAST FACT: Author Andy Weir landed work as a lab assistant at Sandia National Labs, a Department of Energy installation, when he was just 15.
The special effects are as stunning as we’ve come to expect from mainstream Hollywood, but there’s something grounded about the presentation. The FX crew isn’t trying to dazzle or distract us. The ship in question feels as grounded as the Nostromo from “Alien,” a very high compliment.
The rest hangs on Gosling’s shoulders, and in a wild way, his adventures are similar to those of Tom Hanks and his unusual pal in “Cast Away.”
Yes, “Project Hail Mary” goes on too long, and the third act packs more than a few, “wait, this isn’t the final conflict” moments? It ends on a note that’s graceful and satisfactory, sticking the landing after already achieving so much more than most films ever think of attempting.
Take that, Tilly Norwood!
HiT or Miss: “Project Hail Mary” is messy but moving, a marvel of science fiction storytelling that never leaves the human element behind.
I haven’t read the book so I didn’t go in with any preconceived notions of what the movie “should be”.
I also have to qualify by saying that I haven’t seen all that many of the movies made in the past 10 or 15 years. Most of them turn me off at the marketing phase or with trailers that don’t look in the least interesting to me, or get crappy word of mouth from people I know who’ve seen it, so I don’t waste my money.
So I have limited experience with more recent offerings from Hollywood, but of the few I have seen, I have to say this was the most fun, entertaining, uplifting movie I’ve seen in a long time. Ryan Gosling killed it. I agree that the run time was a bit long, there were a couple of slow places that they could have trimmed down, but other than that, I really liked it.
The beats are similar to those of First Contact, Armageddon and literally the Martian. I guess it pays to be a reviewer who finds “newness” and “Freshness’ in clearly recycled bs. But hey only one black and so you guys should be good!
well, when 70% of the “representation” in advertisements and public service campaigns (toss in voiceovers, too) are comprised of blacks (despite being 12% of the general population), then having “only one black” in the movie honestly feels very right, refreshing, and nice.
ymmv
Amen to that! Finally, REAL realism.
Amen to that! REAL realism, for a change.
Yea, I know this isn’t politically correct to say, but I really don’t care. I couldn’t tell you who the black character was. If he’d sucked, I’d know to whom you are referring. Since I don’t know, I must assume it’s because he did a good job in his role, qualifying him as just “good actor” without regard for (or my remembrance of) the color of his skin.
When you feel the need to keep tally in that way and seemingly advocate for hiring actors based on a demographic checklist rather than whether the actor fits the part and executes the role well, I can only surmise you’re completely missing the point of “entertainment”…which means your opinion can be safely ignored as irrelevant.
There are plenty of excellent actors out there who happen to be black and I very much enjoy their work. That doesn’t mean you have to shoehorn a certain number of black actors into a piece for it to be entertaining (and make lots of money, which I believe, ultimately, is the point).
I work from home and earn a respectable $6k a week, which is amazing considering that a year ago I was unemployed in a terrible economy. I always give God praise for honoring me with these rules, and now it’s my duty to practice anticipatory compassion and share it with everyone. Likewise,
Here is I begun————————> https://goo.su/N7mzHd
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I read the book and really enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to this.
And say what you will about Tilly Norwood, but at least she won’t call me a terrible person at an awards show because I vote Republican, and she won’t post “Free Palestine” on social media.
There isn’t anything in this movie that I would call original. it feels like crap we have seen over and over again.
Well joe you haven’t seen it so