“Film Fanatics” explores Hollywood’s recent releases, cherished classics and everything in between. These thought-provoking reviews invite fresh perspectives and weigh whether a film deserves attention — or if it is best left in the past. Read on to find out what our writers think of this week’s film.
In five billion years, the sun will start to die. By then, humanity might already be gone, surpassed by a new species or leaving nature to reclaim Earth. However, what if it were going to die in only 30 years? “Project Hail Mary” asks this question, and it answers with Ryan Gosling and a talking rock.
Based on Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name, the plot puts the audience in the very confused shoes of Ryland Grace, portrayed by Gosling, a middle school science teacher turned unwilling astronaut on a journey to learn why the sun is dying. Viewers share in his bewilderment as he slowly remembers himself and his mission.
Confusion is a necessary aspect of this movie. It opens with Grace waking up with no memories or sense of time. The film hops around between past and present, with little more than a setting and a hairstyle to denote how much time has passed.
Tessa Hamilton, a junior English and religious studies double major, believes “Project Hail Mary” exceeded expectations.
“I read the book about two years ago, so I was really excited to see an adaptation of it,” Hamilton said. “I was a little worried; I wasn’t sure if they would do the book justice, but they did a pretty good job. I’ve seen it twice already … [And] it’s probably one of my favorite movies I’ve ever seen.”
A particularly impressive aspect of the movie was its sound design, and sometimes its lack thereof. Despite the amount of loud explosions and laser sounds in the most popular science fiction movies, outer space does not carry sound in real life. “Project Hail Mary” stays true to this, switching on a dime between the beeps and clunks of a spaceship to the dead silence of space.
Special attention was paid to lighting, especially in scenes set on Earth; a dying sun means less sunlight, and the look of each scene reflected that. A grey gloom infected every moment spent on land and sea, symbolizing the dire situation and grim odds.
Of course, the true standout is the aptly named rock-like alien Rocky — voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz — from the planet Erid undertaking the same quest as Grace. After discovering each other’s spaceships and learning to communicate, the duo immediately becomes an iconic mix of comedy and emotion.
Mitchell Adams, a junior strategic communication and sports media double major, was especially impressed with Rocky’s mix of practical and digital effects.
“I didn’t know that he was a puppet until after I watched the movie,” Adams said. “I saw clips on social media of [the crew] puppeteering him around. I thought that was really neat to learn after the fact, because there was so much life to that character.”
As with any page-to-screen adaptation, things are lost and things are added. Because not every movie can be “Iron Lung” and successfully stick with one man in a confined space the entire time, the “Project Hail Mary” movie adds human characters for Earth’s scenes and gives more depth to the ones that were already there.
Sophomore biology major Sophia Mitchell has not yet seen the film and worries that it might have difficulty adapting the visuals described in the book.
“For me, the hardest part to visualize is this alien species [called] astrophage,” Mitchell said. “It’s [hard] trying to picture what that would even look like and then bring that vision to life … As I’m reading the book, that’s something I struggle with. It’s like, ‘Okay, what is this even supposed to look like?’ I feel like translating that onto the screen would be really difficult.”
“Project Hail Mary” has made $317 million so far on a $200 million budget, prompting Weir to select its directors — Phil Lord and Christopher Miller — to adapt another one of his books: “Artemis”. Perhaps this will lead to the duo continuing to direct for Weir or even remaking “The Martian”. In any case, it most certainly means another gut-busting and heart-wrenching space adventure.
“Project Hail Mary” was released on March 20 and is currently playing in theaters nationwide.