Project Hail Mary
This is a joyous movie. It is a science fiction movie, but
it is about friendship and sacrifice. Ryan Gosling is Ryland Grace, a scientist
and reluctant astronaut. The Sun is in jeopardy of being extinguished in thirty
years due to a microorganism called Astrophage. There is one star, Tau Ceti,
that has survived the Astrophage infection, and Project Hail Mary is to go to
that star system and determine how it has survived.
This movie has the weight of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think
it is that good. Gosling is the main protagonist, and he carries the movie. He
plays the role with humor and tenderness. Sandra Huller is Eva Stratt Grace’s
superior and the head of Project Hail Mary. When she fails to persuade Grace to
go on the mission and save humanity, she has him drugged and placed on the
spacecraft. After prolonged suspended animation, Grace awakens to find that his
two shipmates have not survived, and he is alone.
On his journey, Grace encounters a rock-like, five-legged
alien astronaut whom he names Rocky. Rocky is also on a mission to save his
plant’s Sun from the Astrophage. Each cannot live in the other’s atmosphere. Since
Rocky is a mechanic, it builds compartments where Grace and he can survive.
They become true friends willing to sacrifice for each other. As silly as it
may seem, the scenes can bring tears to your eyes.
The overall special effects are dazzling. Rocky is a puppet
and not CG. There were several puppeteers operating Rocky in the style of
Japanese puppetry, Bunraku.
This movie is more than just sci-fi; it defies that label.
Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% score.
