“Project Hail Mary” is the first film I’ve seen this year that actually feels like a blockbuster. With a budget of around $250 million, Amazon MGM Studios put a lot of faith in this project, making the film its most expensive to date.
Set in the depths of outer space, this film follows Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle school science teacher who is the world’s last chance to save humanity from extinction as a mysterious substance eats away at the sun. The film opens with Grace awakening aboard the Hail Mary ship, not remembering who he was or how he got there. Periodic flashbacks reveal some of his history throughout the film.
While Grace is searching through space, he encounters Rocky (James Ortiz), an alien also looking to save his planet from extinction for the same reason. Grace quickly befriends Rocky and the two learn to communicate so they can work together.
From a technical standpoint, this film was remarkable. Greig Fraser, who is known for his cinematography in “The Batman” and the first two “Dune” films, perfectly captured the beauty of outer space in this film, and it was beautiful to see in an IMAX theater. The moments when Grace floated outside of his ship made me feel like I was drifting right beside him in outer space, with stars encompassing my entire field of vision.
The Hail Mary itself looked mesmerizing as well, which can be credited to Charles Wood, who has done production design for some of Marvel Studios’ biggest films. The production team built all the interior sets for the ship instead of using green screens, which made the environment feel incredibly realistic and allowed for the camera and lighting crews to be more creative with their shot selection.
While the topic of humanity’s extinction is typically depicted dramatically, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller tell the story in a comedic tone, a characteristic also present in the book on which the film is based.
Lord and Miller are known for their comedic depictions of characters in film, with some of my favorites being “21 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie.” As a strong fan of Lord and Miller’s prior work on these films, I was excited for the jokes in “Project Hail Mary.” Unfortunately, I hardly found myself laughing throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime.
It wasn’t necessarily that the jokes in the film were bad, but they relied heavily on sardonic humor, which I am not a fan of. One of the frequently recurring jokes was Rocky’s broken English, when he would say things like “fist my bump” instead of “fist bump,” or add the word “question” whenever he asked a question, which got old very quickly.
Even though the jokes didn’t quite land for me, Gosling’s performance still shines as the only human on screen for much of the runtime. He’s charmed audiences many times before in films like “La La Land” and “Crazy Stupid Love,” but this was the first time that he’s won me over with his character’s warmth and compassion.
Grace and Rocky’s friendship is the heart of the film, and Gosling’s bright energy keeps their fresh dynamic from ever going stale. Some of my favorite moments between the two were Grace’s video diary entries, which captured the quippy back-and-forth dialogue between the two characters.
Ortiz impressed me as well with his portrayal of Rocky, as it’s an incredibly difficult challenge to have audiences sympathize with an alien made of rocks without a face to convey emotion. This meant that Rocky had to be incredibly expressive with his body language and tone of voice, which is why it was so fitting for Ortiz to perform both the puppeteering and voicing.
As a family-oriented science fiction film, “Project Hail Mary” is everything you could ask for. While I may not have enjoyed the jokes, the strong performances and breathtaking visuals kept me engaged, and I had a good time watching.
