Project Hail Mary Movie Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the blog! For anyone who doesn’t know Project Hail Mary is now in theaters (at least at the time I am writing this)! I have raved about this book to literally everyone I know because I love it so much. As someone who finds book-to-movie adaptations to be pretty mid, I tried to keep my expectations in check. BUT when I tell you this movie has altered my brain chemistry I mean it. So, let’s get into it!
In Project Hail Mary, the sun is dying, and the government is putting together a team of scientists to figure out how to stop it. Enter, Ryland Grace, a biology teacher. He was recruited to help research the Astrophage which are the micro-organisms eating the sun. The team needs to learn everything they can about this organism and how to stop it.
With the sun dimming, Earth grows colder. Grace becomes an integral part of the mission: Project Hail Mary. We follow his journey as he becomes the missing puzzle piece and earth’s fate is single handedly thrust into his hands. The world has one chance, and it all depends on one human…and a rock.
Spoilers beyond this point!!!
When I say this movie was absolutely AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE I mean that wholeheartedly. I was nervous going in because as I said above, adaptations tend to fall flat for me. Plus, I’m not going to lie, Ryan Gosling cast as Ryland Grace also made me nervous. Not because I think he’s a terrible actor, I don’t, but I wanted to make sure there was a seriousness to this adaptation. There’s added pressure when adapting a book because there’s already a fan base behind it. Personally, after seeing the movie, all my nervousness was for nothing. Gosling was phenomenal.
The acting, the continuity between the book and movie, the cinematography, everything was done so well, and I’m not even someone who cares all that much about cinematography, but I NOTICED how well done it was.
Let me back up before I get too excited and this blog post has no organized structure.
First, Ryan Gosling was phenomenal. He did such a great job portraying Grace and just bringing a new personality to the character without drastically changing the character from the book. I mean the movie had the entire theater laughing out loud because of his interactions with Rocky. I wasn’t laughing out loud at the book. Gosling brought his own touch, and it was fantastic.
Second, there were very minimal changes from book to movie, obviously not everything can be incorporated, and there were changes made. The big and important things still made it into the movie. The relationship between Grace and Rocky was depicted perfectly, the way they communicated, their friendship and companionship; I was literally getting emotional over Rocky. He was perfect.
Now, there was the addition of the karaoke scene which was fantastic along with the song choice, and the other big difference was that Grace goes onto Rocky’s ship. Honestly, I would’ve loved that to be in the book, so I’m glad it was included in the movie. And of course, in the end when we see Stratt get Grace’s message. Again, I liked the fact that we got to see that. It’s a movie, and we all want a happy ending.
There were a few details that I would’ve liked to see in the movie that weren’t included such as, the fact that Grace had a special gene that made it possible for him to even go on the mission. One of the big issues was finding skilled people willing go to but also that had a special gene which allows them to withstand being in a long-term coma…or something along those lines.
I also feel like there should’ve been more information given about the state of the Earth when the sun dims, like why it is so bad and why their situation is so urgent. In the book they were blowing up polar ice caps to trigger global warming and how 2/3 of the Sahara Desert was covered to breed more astrophage. In the grand scheme of things, those are small details, but it definitely ups the stakes.
Third, I mentioned cinematography as a strong point for this movie because I think it’s important to mention that there was no green screen used. It was all practical effects, set design, etc. Which, in my opinion, plays a huge part in why this movie is doing so well. It’s not just a bunch of CGI slop that we’re being fed all the time. Rocky was a puppet! He wasn’t some CGI alien, thank god.
One of my favorite scenes is when Grace is collecting Astrophage and he is in the middle of the Petrova line. The red sequin scene is my favorite. It was so beautiful, and I didn’t want to look away.
Also, I don’t know if it was the marketing for this movie, the fact that it’s a Ryan Gosling movie, or what, but this pulled in such a dynamic audience. There are those who are fans of the book, but there also seemed to be a mish-mosh of others. People I wouldn’t pin as being into science fiction. I’m not judging…I’m just observing. My mom even told me she was going to see it in theaters because of how good the reviews are, and I know this isn’t her typical movie.
It’s been days since I’ve seen this movie, and I still can’t stop thinking about it. I mean I was getting emotional over a damn rock! I already want to see it again. I’m obsessed.
Ryan Gosling recently said in an interview, "it's not your job to keep them (movie theaters) open, it's our job to make things that make it worth you coming out." In my opinion, this movie succeeds at that.
I also recently found out that Weir is working on his next book! But that’s all we know. We don’t know title, plot, setting or anything other than it’s a standalone science fiction novel.
My goal is to read Artemis very soon. My husband has a physical copy, so I can’t wait to read it!
Overall, I give the movie 4.5/5 stars. I highly recommend watching the movie, reading the book, or better yet, both! You won’t be disappointed.
Alright folks, that is all I have for this week! Come back next week for another blog post. As always, thank you for reading :)