The novel “Project Hail Mary”, by Andy Weir, was first published in 2021 and saw immediate success around the globe. After experiencing a second wave of fame a couple of years later, it was announced that a movie was in the works. Of course, everyone was incredibly excited about it, and when Ryan Gosling was announced as the lead actor, hopes that this movie would be fantastic were very high- and they were right.
The main cast of “Project Hail Mary” includes Ryan Gosling as the main character, Dr. Ryland Grace, Sandra Huller as Eva Stratt, and James Ortiz as Rocky. On all counts, the actors did an absolutely amazing job- as fans had pegged from the start, Gosling was the perfect choice to portray Grace. His humor, silly quips with Rocky, and mad scientist scribbling convinced every viewer of Dr. Grace’s authenticity. Huller pulled off a similarly great act with her character, Stratt, and even managed to add a bit of depth with a scene written only in the movie. Rocky, the alien, was a puppet managed by James Ortiz and the other “Rockyteers,” with Ortiz also providing the voice acting for Rocky’s computer-generated voice.
The entire movie was made in what many may call the old-fashioned way with a return to the more practical methods of filmmaking’s beginnings. All effects were practical, and no CGI or greenscreen was used once. All shots of space were filmed against a black backdrop or else a multi-colored background. When used correctly, practical filmmaking methods can really enhance a movie’s look, as Project Hail Mary obviously did it right. Rocky, which usually would have been done with CGI, was done incredibly well as a puppet – possibly better than it could have been done with computer-generated effects.
Most people’s singular complaint about the book Project Hail Mary is that the science-y talk is a little bit much- and the movie adaptation did a perfect job of remedying this. The nerdy engineering bits that might not be some people’s cup of tea from the book were cut down to the basics in the movie adaptation, while still being perfectly understandable, making sense in relation to the plot, and being engaging enough to keep the audience interested. This resulted in the movie being even more popular than the book, because the movie’s nerdy talk is cut down to a manageable, but also reasonable amount, for those audience members who might not appreciate it as much as an ordinary sci-fi viewer would. In addition to the nerd talk, most of the scenes they cut out that were in the book were not missed- everything both taken out and added in was perfectly reasonable and was perfectly done.
All in all, Project Hail Mary is a fantastic adaptation of an internationally beloved book and will surely be a classic for years to come, for both nerdy sci-fi viewers and the more casual members of the audience. I, for one, will be coming back to watch this absolute legend of a film year after year – it really is just that good.
