Beloved actor Ryan Gosling returns to the screens as Rhyland Grace, the humanity saving scientist in “Project Hail Mary”. Based on the novel by Andy Weir, “Project Hail Mary” is the rescue of humanity during a solar catastrophe. Released into theaters on March 20, the movie has brought in 300 million dollars in the global box office. Noted to be one of the highest grossing films under Amazon MGM.
“Project Hail Mary” becomes a generational interstellar movie with its intricate storytelling and charming characters. Alongside Gosling, the movie stars Sandra Huller as Eva Stratt and James Oritz as Rocky.
The story begins with Grace walking up from a coma on a spaceship, with no recollection of who he is and where he is. Alone and only with the spaceship’s internal command center for company, Grace struggles to understand what his mission is. While the audience watches Grace grapple for his objective, they get flashbacks to his time on Earth. Where we discover alongside him, the mission: save Earth from eternal destruction.
Scientists on Earth discover astrophage, a microscopic organism that is eating the Sun. Stratt leads us to believe that once the Earth begins to cool, an apocalyptic end is the future that humans must face. Responsible for sending a mission to save the Earth, Stratt turns to Grace when tragedy strikes during the training of the astronauts. Dr. Grace is the leading scientist on the mission; he knows each piece of information inside and out. His outright refusal to go to space leads to him being induced and sent off into space.
As Grace travels to the only star immune to the astrophage infection, he meets an alien ship and his partner Rocky. Rocky is an alien that can’t exist in Earth’s atmosphere, he is able to see using echolocation and his language is based on musical chords and patterns. Grace works with Rocky directly to figure out the discovery that will save Earth, a natural predator that keeps astrophage from eating away at the stars. The pair must go on a retrieval mission, one that Grace’s ship is not built for.
The predators are retrieved, but not without a cost. The sequence of events that occur after the retrieval show just how close Rocky and Grace are; their relationship changed from one of the necessity of survival to that of friendship. Weir builds such a characteristic relationship between Grace and Rocky that it stands the instinct of survival; the friendship becomes a lifeline.
“Project Hail Mary” captivates with its storyline, but it also captures the attention of the audience with its jaw dropping visuals. Space, as humans know, is one of the biggest mysteries to ever exist. The visuals bring the awe and wonder of space to viewers, it feels like you’re alongside Grace in the spaceship experiencing the same wonders he is.
The visuals are accompanied by their own stunning soundtrack that sweeps watchers up into the story. It encapsulates every emotion within a scene, ranging from raw wonder to panic and fear. Alongside the produced music, the Beatles join on the journey home with their song “Two of Us”. “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles turns a somber to scene to one that becomes endearing and a hallmark of the movie.
“Project Hail Mary” is a must see, especially in IMAX, bringing the wonders of space to you. The movie is simply “amaze, amaze, amaze”. If anything, it should make you interested in the space mission of Artemis II. The real-life mission is the first time humans have been to the moon in over 50 years, with the crew going the farthest humans have ever gone from Earth. This movie marks an iconic time in the space movement and brings space closer to all of us on Earth.
