stars can be saved with grace — pun intended

This entire review is my opinion on the movie, plus it is full of spoilers.

Whenever we see a mention of interplanetary, intergalactic or even just space travel in general, we encounter a dark and desolate form of art that is seldom hopeful, moreover the endings seem rather melancholic and inherently just sad. Whenever aliens are introduced in these stories they are treated with hostility, fear and villainized for the most part in major sci-fi flicks atleast.

Project Hail Mary (PHM) does none of that albeit tackling the issues of loneliness, losing your entire team and feeling “small” in a cosmos larger than you could ever imagine. PHM is not “sad” it is rather hopeful, it fills you with a joy the moment you watch it and makes itself home in your heart. Ever since it’s release like ten or so days ago, it has constantly captivated the audience with it’s heartwarming attitude towards this genre of films, likes of which haven’t been seen for a long time.

The movie in itself is silly, fun and also a tearjerker all at the same time. Lord and Miller have done a fantastic job getting in the warm and cozy feel to a movie that is so large in general. I mean, just look at it, it’s just a guy who was pulled out from his middle school class to create a genius solution to a catastrophic problem and now is just there in the middle of interstellar space with a form of alien life he had no clue existed before hand.

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Rocky and Grace are like brothers but with two completely different lives, they are inherently two sides of the same coin, gemini brothers or whatever analogy you would like to call them. Rocky is an alien from Erid with a whole life ahead of him, he spent his time happy with his partner and is generally joyous, gleeful and sunshine in a world where the suns are dying. He is the light. While, Dr. Ryland Grace is a Molecular Biologist who has been ostracized from the entire scientific community for holding thoughts and beliefs which were completely different from the paradigm in which he lived his life. His wife left him, he has no immediate family, not even a pet. He is lonely, his life is dark, he is the shadow in this context. He wakes up from a medically induced coma just to find his entire crew dead then while he is dealing with his grief he meets Rocky who arrives out of nowhere and fills in the void of loneliness he had felt since forever. Rocky also had his own share of problems all over. He had witnessed twenty-three of his crewmates die infront of his own eyes and couldn’t do anything about it. Grace to Rocky was like finding someone he was desperate need for to escape from this loneliness and find a new will to live other than to just save his world. This feeling was likewise between both of them.

The word “Alien” has been used in a hostile sense for way too long. When alien life comes into the equation in any space sci-fi flick, it somehow always is painted in a negative aspect. So much so that the word itself in the current real world scenario has become very usable in scenarios describing negative connotations to certain groups with individualistic traits which are different from the majority. Aliens always don’t have to be evil, even if they look different, have different thought processes and live on a whole another planet, they don’t always need to be conquering human life. This is what PHM sought to show in Rocky, who looks like a few rocks struck on together, but turns out to be one of the greatest alien companions ever alongside the alien from E.T. and Jaadu from Koi Mil Gaya.

The movie deserves all the praise as it is humorous yet deep all along. There is some charm to Ryan Gosling’s acting which brings this entire journey a whole new appeal, which is hopeful and happy. This movie unites Rocky and Grace as they embark on a quest to Tau-Ceti to figure out why the star isn’t dying despite the Astrophage infection. One thing leads to the other and they become one of the greatest on screen duos, ONE OF THEM BEING A PUPPET AND JUST A ROCK IS ABSOLUTELY BAFFLING TO ME.

Ryan Gosling said he wanted to make a movie that his children could watch and it would make them happy. He wanted to make a movie which he can just sit down and chill with his kids. PHM was envisioned as a movie for all ages, it didn’t care for a bleak-heroic-i am solely the one who can save earth story, rather it is something that wanted to tell you what you would ACTUALLY do in case an alien microscopic bacteria is eating your sun, and you are solving the problem with an alien brochacho you find on your way (very specific scenario i know, but can happen to anyone). Turns out, in a world that is in anguish and turmoil, where people do not want to go to the cinemas, a movie of this kind broke everyone’s movie watching slump.

Rohan Joshi, aka the MojoRojo once said that PHM is a book that will break away your reading slump, you’d start appreciating the art of books and storytelling all over again. The movie adaptation remaining ever so faithful to the book has now done the same, it has dragged out a shit ton of people to go watch this beautiful movie. I have yet to meet an hater of PHM, and even if the snobs and critics have some issues with it being two and a half hours long, I’d say I will watch the four hour long director’s cut too if it ever sees the light of day.

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Greg Fraser and the entire team give no reason to complain about the cinematography, Greg alongside the directors Lord and Miller give life to Project Hail Mary with all the possible effects done on a practical scale with screens and unique techniques rather than relying completely on VFX. The movie in IMAX is visually stunning, and has become one of my movies to experience in an IMAX if I ever get a chance to.

The movie paints Grace as a run of the mill guy who was just randomly thrown into this space odyssey. Funnily enough, Rocky asks him the question about “Why is a School teacher in space? Question.” to which Grace doesn’t really have an answer. Yet while we journey through space, collect our astrophage from the petrova line while having our immersed in space bacteria moment, we come to the realization that Grace has changed. Grace is now brave, he is at his bravest point, even being acknowledged by Rocky which he immediately denies. But in a moment where he has to decide if he wants to save Rocky from his imminent death or go home

He chose to save his friend, he chose to spare Rocky of his slow miserable predicament that was about to happen to him because of the leaking alien organisms eating up his entire spaceship.

As a result we see a change where a guy who was of the opinion that “I put the NOT in Astronaut” came through with one of the bravest and courageous tasks.

At the climax of the movie, when Grace chooses to save Rocky, “Two Of Us” by The Beatles plays in the background. The song, which is about two people acting together and loving the time they spend. Also the fact that this song was recorded at a time when Paul and John were at odds with each other regarding various creative decisions about the Beatles. When singing together in this song, they make a beautiful voice that pulls everyone to the edge of their seats and make this moment a real tearjerker. This also stands as an allegory for the relationship between Grace and Rocky, as they too needed to be together, they needed to act together to save each other from their own demises. Rocky did that by helping Grace return home, Grace returned the favor by saving Rocky. (Just listen to the song you’d know what i means)

In the end too, when Grace is received on Rocky’s planet, the audience never expects both of them to actually survive or the message about the findings on how to stop the Astrophage reach earth. But all of that does infact happen and we have a happy ending.

Grace is received very well on Rocky’s planet, I saw some funny reality checks online which outlined the fact that if it was the other way around and Rocky was received on Earth it would lead to a billion other problems and him being perceived as hostile. Which is funny to think because that is the entire thing the movie was avoiding altogether.

Project Hail Mary is a movie that is going to be one of those movies that you watch and you instantly fall back in love with cinema altogether again. It is something that should be watched by everyone, if they’re a kid, if they’re an adult, if they’re in sick or in pain or even depressed. This movie holds the power of bringing you back from whatever slump you are suffering from. It revives you and give you a warm embrace from the greatness of cinema that you fell in love with.

This article was finished at T-7:10:50 to Artemis II launch.

And this article is publishing at T+24hrs, a little after the Translunar Injection Burn. For all Humanity. Godspeed!