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Project Hail Mary Movie: There Will Be Tears ( And Laughs )
- Yadav B V
- 14 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Project Hail Mary is another awesome sci-fi book by the author of The Martian, Andy Weir, which has now been adapted into a great movie with even better marketing. While The Martian deals with the theme of space travel and exploration more seriously, the Project Hail Mary movie is a light-hearted take on interstellar travel, first contact, and more.
What's the Project Hail Mary Movie About?
Dr. Ryland Grace is a school science teacher in the US, where all major science breakthroughs and alien encounters happen in movies.
When the planet is in peril from a type of lifeform that snacks on Stars for food and farts pure energy, which is called an Astrophage, an international space task force recruits the help of Dr. Grace due to a scientific paper he's written about life on other planets.
Cut to Ryland Grace waking up from a medically induced coma and making sense of where, how, and why he is, and quickly orienting himself to save Earth with the help of a rock-like alien.
What you go on to see are genuine moments of exploration, self-exploration, inter-species communication and bonding, with a lot of twists and turns, some tears, a lot of laughs, and some meaningful silences.
I liked the premise of Grace's fictional paper that all life need not necessarily be based on water. Over these centuries, mankind has not been able to adequately define life as an all-encompassing, universal concept. When we aren't able to even define life, I don't think we can assume that water and oxygen are a strong enough prerequisite for finding life in other star systems.
There are not a lot of layers to the characters, especially Dr. Ryland Grace, either to make room for and highlight the core plot. I think there could have been more nuances to his character and possibly more serious twists if possible.
Cinematography, Practical Effects, and CGI
The alien whom Grace names Rocky is actually voiced by one of the puppeteers of the thing and is given really adorable characteristics, such as a child's grasp of language, being easily excited, and being really empathetic.
The tech behind the spaceship is interesting, considering the interior of the spaceship had a dense network of light-up switches that were both modular and functional, which could be swapped out easily and replaced or rearranged.
The shots of the spaceship against the background of interstellar space are amazing.
Also, the design of Rocky's spaceship, and the fact that the aliens' tech is based on crystalline and mineral structures that can be fabricated as we do with 3D printing of metals.
The CGI is not too showy and feels more functional and part of the plot than being gratuitous. The VR screen panorama on the Hail Mary spaceship is kind of cool, even though it is basic in its concept and construction. Also, the depiction of the astrophage as an organism is pretty cool, along with its use on a spaceship/craft as a fuel.
The outlet of the spaceship astrophage propulsion system reminds me of the graphite rods in the 2019 HBO/Sky miniseries Chernobyl, with the texture of the rocket engine nozzle being uniquely designed to resemble exotic matter and its expulsion.
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The Cast of Project Hail Mary
Sandra Hüller plays Eva Stratt, a high-ranking official in the international space task force who is exceedingly German when it comes to displays of emotion and temperament. She has the most screen time next to Ryan Gosling and Rocky and makes quite an impact with the screentime she's given.
Priya Kansara plays the voice of the ship named "Mary". Lionel Boyce plays Officer Carl, who shares a buddy cop vibe with Ryan Gosling's Ryland Grace and does a great job of it.
The lovely Milana Vayntrub plays Olesya Ilyukhina, the astronaut whom I remembered from Silicon Valley as Gilfoyle's girlfriend. Also, Ken Leung plays Yáo Li-Jie, one of the other two astronauts, who is one of my all-time favorite on-screen villains in Rush Hour with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
Should You Watch This? Yes!
If you have read the book by Andy Weir, watching this movie is a no-brainer. If you haven't read the book, you can still watch the movie and have lots of fun! This sci-fi movie, based on the book by Andy Weir, is the closest you will get to a fairy tale in outer space.