Project Hail Mary
Written by Cameron Geiser
I’ve been waiting for this one. As someone who was only mildly impressed with Ridley Scott’s adaptation of The Martian, I happened to come across the next book by the same author who wrote The Martian, and was immediately hooked by the synopsis of Project Hail Mary. Ryland Grace (portrayed here by Ryan Gosling), a high school science teacher, awakens on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is, why he’s there, or what he’s doing. However he’s smart enough to know when looking out at the stars through his window that he’s not just nowhere near planet Earth, he’s not even in our solar system. Grace slowly regains his memory as time goes on, but the reveals of his mission, and who he eventually meets, are some of the best surprises I’ve experienced as a reader. I wish I could keep the secret alive, but alas so much of the film and what makes it work so damn well lies within the Alien counterpart that Grace meets once his ship arrives in the Tau Ceti star system.
That Alien is Rocky (James Ortiz), named by Grace because Rocky is a spider-like rock creature that speaks in tones similar to that of a whale’s song. Eventually the two figure out a way to communicate through technological means and that’s when Ortiz’s voice work comes in as Rocky. Ortiz also happens to be the lead puppeteer of Rocky, which is so satisfying to see such craftsmanship in a modern film that it filled me with untold levels of joy. It turns out that Rocky is in the Tau Ceti system for the same reason that Grace is there. It’s the only star system with a star that is unaffected by what has come to be known as Astrophage, a small cellular form of life that is slowly devouring the energy of various stars. Both our Sun and Rocky’s are slowly dimming, thus dooming their entire civilizations unless they can figure out why this is happening and how to stop or reverse it.
Project Hail Mary is a surefire hit for any fans of science fiction.
As far as adaptations of novels go, this one is not only devoted to maintaining the spirit of the story but it also makes a few small changes that honestly only improved things in my opinion. Well, with only one small spoilery exception that I personally feel is probably more of a nitpick than anything else and ultimately isn’t that big of a deal. On the filmmaking side of things I adored the look of this film, but I particularly loved the transitions and the cinematography as a whole. Paired with the score/soundtrack the film fully depicted the awe, thrill, fascination, and at times intensity required of this story. It’s also just damn funny. Ryan Gosling has been a standout actor for years now but this is his best performance for quite some time. He is literally the perfect casting choice for Ryland Grace, a sarcastic scientist with a heart of gold but also a penchant for running from his fears.
I simply cannot say enough good things about Project Hail Mary. It’s the perfect encapsulation of modern science fiction, with the only other real competition these days coming in the form of the Dune trilogy from master filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. This one is a knockout folks, go see it!
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.