Phil Lord and Chris Miller's adaptation-which marks their first film directorial effort since 2014's 22 Jump Street-of Andy Weir's 2021 hit sci-fi novel is a very nice movie. It tells a story that values things like friendship, using science as a tool to find solutions to big problems in the world and maintaining hope in the face of substantial adversity. At a time where the world is consumed by unrelenting darkness, cinematic escapism fueled by warmth, connection and the possibility of a better future makes for a mighty refreshing remedy. The problem with having a film that features the backdrop of a dangerous, last-ditch deep space mission to try and prevent the sun from dying and wiping out the entire solar system be anchored in non-stop positive feelings is that it does a real number on the substantial weight of the mission's sole objective.
Admittedly, there's a strange paradox behind this line of criticism as Weir's hopefulness is a signature trait of his writing that has allowed him to standout in a genre that is often defined by widespread destruction, dystopian hellscapes, etc. However, Weir's sunny source material and the similarly cheery disposition of the screenplay from Drew Goodard (who also handled the script for the adaptation of Weir's other hit novel The Martian back in 2015) guarantees that there's not even the threat of anything bad happening at any point during the story. This "Hail Mary" space mission to save the entire universe from incinerating is treated like it's a run-of-the-mill construction project on Earth itself. Are there a few hiccups to overcome? Of course, but a bad measurement here and some shipping delays there don't pose any threat to the completion of a construction project and the ones that materialize here also take the form of minor obstacles that can be overcome simply by having the resolve to power through the headache that you're dealing with in that moment. While it's not exactly an uncommon phenomenon that a movie plays out in a predictable, suspense-free manner, it's not very often that a movie built around a dire threat to the entire fucking solar system doesn't even bother to create the illusion of danger.
The lack of peril and minimizing of the potentially catastrophic situation this universe is facing would be something that I'd be much more willing to accept if the buddy relationship between motormouthed science teacher-turned-reluctant astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and the rock-shaped alien "Rocky" (voiced by James Ortiz, who also served as the primary puppeteer for this practical creature) that is designed to be the heart of the movie moved me in any meaningful way. Gosling is well-cast as this affable fella who is stuck by himself on a spaceship after the other two members of his crew (Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub-both treated with the type of reverence typically reserved for an empty bag of potato chips or a dinnertime visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses) died during their multi-year space flight and the connection he builds with this alien he crosses paths with shortly after he regains his bearings following a battle with retrograde amnesia brought on by the prolonged induced coma he put into ahead of the trip leads to him finding the key to solving this whole dying sun problem that he wouldn't have been able to discover if he had remained alone. No matter how much paling around and science shit Grace and Rocky do together, their bond just isn't substantive enough to serve as the emotional anchor for a story. They're just two lonely guys far from home sharing some laughs and stories as a way to pass the time before they have to extract the magic space dust that will save the galaxy. It's basically the equivalent of two co-workers hanging out on a work trip because they have nowhere else to go or anybody else to spend time with. Project Hail Mary wants the viewer to believe that this friendship is that rare breed of bond that will endure forever, but the circumstances in which it was forged under and the lightweight nature of their conversations make that about as improbable as not running into any major obstacles when embarking on a deep space mission designed to prevent the sun from dying.
This review will inevitably read like I believe that Project Hail Mary sucks, which isn't the case. The movie tells its story in a completely competent manner, is beautifully photographed by Greig Fraser and features some of the best VFX of any movie released this decade. I just never truly connected with the material and left the theater not overly impressed with what I had just watched. This was especially disappointing given how much I revere Lord and Miller as filmmakers. I would say don't let my lack of enthusiasm detract you from seeing the movie, but there's basically zero chance that this outlier take would prevent anyone from going to see one of the most widely celebrated films to come out in recent memory. Hope you are all able to enjoy the movie on the big screen in the coming weeks and feel free to hurl insults at me through your preferred channel of communication after watching it
Grade: B
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