Due to its astronomical success, “Project Hail Mary” has earned itself an extended run time in theaters! The film has only grown in popularity since it first hit theaters March 20 as sci-fi and Ryan Gosling fans flock to the theater.
Adapted from Andy Weir’s novel by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the film crushed it at the box office during its opening weekend and has continued to captivate audiences since. This includes me…who has taken the time to see it twice, and even cracked open the book to read the material that inspired such a stellar film.
I have no negative notes on this film. It was stunning in every way from the acting and cinematography to the pacing and world-building, all the way to the special effects. This film absolutely delivered and exceeded all my expectations.
Very similarly to the novel, the film unfolds in a sequence of braiding timelines, jumping from the past to the present to fill in the blanks for the audience right alongside Ryland Grace, our protagonist played by Gosling.
The story follows nearly identically to the book, hitting every major plot point in its three-hour run time. Only a few things needed to be sped up to avoid having to explain the science and risk boring the audience.
Without spoiling the book or film, the story follows Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who is recruited by a super secret world alliance of scientists and engineers to find a solution to the impending end of the world. The sun is being eaten by an unknown substance, and it’s clear that within 30 years it will be gone, as will life on planet Earth if a solution is not found. Grace ends up heading this mission into space to find a solution, along the way running into Rocky, an alien who is on his very own mission to do the same for his home planet and his sun. It doesn’t take long for Rocky to become Grace’s companion as they combine forces to try and save their worlds.
The allure of sci-fi lies in how these stories allow us to resonate with the plot on a human level, while also making us feel personally responsible for the otherworldly threats posed. The film navigates these tropes well, building the stakes, exploring the raw emotions and proposing painful ultimatums that transcend the screen and force the viewer to weigh out the moral implications of choices right alongside the characters. We see this unfold through the character Eva Stratt, played by Sandra Hüller, who’s head of the international task force – AKA the one who makes the difficult choice to send Grace into space to hopefully save the world.
The differences between the novel and the film were only evident when looking into how Grace was chosen to head the mission. In the film it’s aggressive, teetering on assault. They drug and trap Grace, forcing him into a coma as they load him onto the ship. In the book it was his choice. Grace goes back to his classroom and becomes inspired to take on the mission when he looks at the faces of his students, hoping to allow those kids a future. While there has been some speculation on this choice, Weir himself has shared in interviews that he was happy with it. There were scientific elements in the novel that require he end up in a coma. The movie found a way to, in Weir’s words, “capture that immediacy” that worked well in this adaptation despite how jarring it may have been for the audience to watch.
As the film came to a close, I found myself digging deep to learn more about what special effects went into creating this film. My biggest curiosity being how they created Gosling’s co-star Rocky.
I learned that the directors refused to use AI in the making of this film. Instead they chose to build the spaceship that the majority of the film takes place in, costing $248 million. Rocky was also manmade by Neal Scanlan at the Creature Shop in London, then puppeteered and voiced by James Ortiz. Being able to bring Rocky to life not only gave Gosling something real to interact with while filming, but also gave us (the audience) a sense of believability, making it easier to feel emotionally attached to him. The directors were so adamant on not using AI that even Mary, the computer voice of the ship, was played by Priya Kanasara.
The special effects however, don’t end with the spaceship. The directors opted out of using a greenscreen, instead they obtained licensing of Rod Prazer’s photographs that showcase a real nebula. Using these photos in the film, they were able to use as little CGI as possible. To achieve zero gravity shots in space scenes, they rigged Gosling into a sling ring, allowing him a full range of motion while acting where he could move freely, floating around the ship inside and out.
With the world rapidly moving towards artificial intelligence, it was extremely refreshing to see this film maintain the art of human touch as practical effects become less common. A fitting choice for the film, when the story itself reflects the importance of humanity and emotional connection. I hope having seen how well this film has done, more directors will follow in its footsteps and continue leaning away from the CGI and more into human craft.
In the words of Rocky, this film left me in a feeling of “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!” from the attention to realism, to Gosling’s acting and Ortiz’s puppetering, “Project Hail Mary” earns a stellar 5 out of 5 on the spicy scale!