Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Project Hail Mary

This film makes you remember why you fell in love with film and the wonder like charm that washes over you when you see something truly magical and transcendent. This film is one of the best space films of this decade now it is not the next Interstellar but I can see this becoming a classic for sure and a huge highlight of the year for many people myself included due to the amazing visual spectacle that it is among the fantastic leading performance from Ryan Gosling to the way the film is able to both be emotionally impactful, heartwarming and inspiring and give you quite the emotional journey to go on and by the end of the film you will be smiling with tears in your eyes wanting to go back again to experience it all over again. Project Hail Mary is a visual masterpiece that has some of the best eye popping imagery I have seen this decade in not just a space film but also just a film in general 

Firstly, the visual storytelling of this film Is staggering! The old school filmmaking of how they crafted this film is remarkable their was no green screen used at all in this film and my brain is still trying to wrap itself around that fact along with the alien friend in this film is made purely out of old school puppetry and practical effects made the film feel so much more grounded. This film sucks you in within the first frame and does not let up the entire time it is a fateful adaption of the book it is based on but makes it mainstream enough for casual film viewers to be able to still enjoy while satisfying the fans at the same time. It is also a film for people who have ever looked at the stars and wondered for the nerds, the space junkies all the ones that wanted to be an astronaut and I love that quality of the story is that it is very much the underdog backed into a corner and what he has to do to get out of the situation and how they brought this film to the big screen on a technical scale is nothing short of extraordinary. The care and sheer passion put through this film is felt in each frame and you can see the handwork pay off as everyone has been singing the praises of how incredible this film looks and if it does not get noticed at the 2027 Oscars for the crafts and tech categories I will be stunned. The film isn’t just your typical run of the mill save and rescue mission it is about friendship and finding a connection within the silences to help fill the sadness within you and bring those parts alive again. The way the deeper moments are allowed to be felt without undercutting it with humour was so smartly done at the same time there is a tom of humour and the amount of heart is infectious and brilliantly done. Project Hail Mary may have an ending that feels familiar but how we get their was totally refreshing and kept me on edge the entire way though I had not seen a theatre so engaged and holding their breath to a film in a while and part of the enjoyment of this film is seeing it on a big screen with a live audience. The amazing practical affects will floor you and blow your mind as well as the way they handle the emotional beats of the story. 

Secondly, now Sandra Huller is amazing I wanna just say that now she has a smaller supporting performance but her karaoke Scene sent chills down my spine she is great in this film not much screen time but makes the most of the scenes she is in. That being said this is very much the Ryan Gosling show and understandably so he drives everything about why you care about his character and the way he brings him to life has so much deeper meaning then I expected and he balances out the dramatic depth with that humour like wit he is known for that is very dry but so funny that it makes you laugh each time Ryan drives home another truly remarkable performance that proves why he has been one of the best leading men since 05. The rest of the cast is very limited but Ryan is sensational in this film.

Lastly, Project Hail Mary is one of the best films of the year I can say that their are a handful of films I have already seen I can confidently say I know will be talked about when I am putting together my top 10 list of films of this year and Project Hail Mary will for sure make the cut. This film is fun, it is whimsical, it inspires you to dream and believe in the good in people and like Sinners last year this film shows you why you fell in love with filmmaking and the craft of it and the reason to go to the movies Phil Lord and Chris Miller knocked it out of the park giving a faithful adaptation of the book while giving so much heart, emotional depth and Adventure the whole family can enjoy with stunning visuals that look like oil paintings lead by a captivating Ryan Gosling Project Hail Mary is destined to become a science fiction classic! Please I beg you see this on the big screen do not watch this on streaming go to your local cinema if if you have access to IMAX see it in that formatting With the best sound system and take it all in I guarantee you it will be among one of your favourite theatrical experiences of the year. 

This film centres on a science teacher  that is put into a situation to help save the earth or else all of humanity will be compromised 

Rated PG - 13 : Suggestive References|Some Thematic Material

Ryan Gosling : Gosling gives one of his best performances in this film! Ryan has been on quite the run recently I know like 5 people saw the Fall Guy but I thought that was such a celebration for Stuntman and the craft of it and he was so fun in it. Here he gives his first space film since 2018’s First Man and personally I think this film is superior to that film in almost every way his performance here explores so many emotions that he gets to explore. Ryan plays Grace an overqualified teacher that is put in a very tough spot when the government approaches him to help save all of humanity and really don’t give him much of a choice in the first half he plays it like a fish out of water like personality that makes for a lot of funny moments but within that awkwardness you can see he feels this is way overwhelming for him and that he is incredibly over his head. It is played for laughs but you can see the sheer panic in his eyes that yeah he knows the science aspect of it but he feels that this should be put in more professional hands as he is petrified that he does not belong there and Sandra Huller’s character keeps trying to tell him their is no one else they want to invest their time into but him which only heighten his already high anxiety about the situation. When we get into the second part of the film when he is put into space by himself we see that he is the only person aboard and he goes through a mind melting crisis that if he does not sort out this now its do or die that he could die in space and no one will know about it if he does not find his way back to earth. When he stumbles on an alien form that is not versed in English he learns to use his smarts to help translate the language so he can understand him better and they form this friendship and you can see that his soul needed to talk to someone or else he would of fallen into a deeper depression. His joy and ability to bring the light out of his soul was heavily contributed from the friendship he forms that brought him out of that depression. He becomes very emotionally invested into the friendship he forms as they create a partnership to help one another out and what is so great about how Ryan explores Grace is that he never just lets it be comedically driven as their is quite a lot of dramatic depth that is very moving you can see he struggles with his anxiety in the situation and Ryan is not afraid to show that vulnerability but he also lets his heart bear onscreen in very touching ways that will bring you to tears. That being said like mentioned earlier he has this ability of using his comedic wit in very smart ways that just perfectly are timed for scenes in the film that never feels repetitive or too much and it melds well into the character he is playing a lot of people will say this performance is alike many others from Ryan I disagree he gives such a terrific performance that is captured in isolation and we see how he would react under such a unique situation like that. Ryan is hilarious and emotionally gripping in one of his best performances of his career that will have you smiling from ear to ear. By the time we get to the third act your heart melts for him and their is not one moment your not actively rooting for him Ryan captures this character beautifully onscreen that is among one of his best characters and performances. 

Phil Lord & Christopher Miller : I am tired of people not giving these two filmmakers the proper credit they are among some of the best creative voices of their generation! They have given great film after great film with comedies like the Jump Street films they kickstarted the child video game genre that have now become so popular with the Lego Movie, Then they also co write the Spider- Verse films they are truly talented artists that deserve the proper recognition. They give a large scale Hollywood film with old school effects which rarely happens with a studio film like this nowadays. In a world of green screens and CGI it is nice to see a space adventure done the old school way which made the film have a more psychical feel even though it is in space their was a deep appreciation from me at least to see hard-work of craftsmanship done to bring this to the screen. They give a fateful adaption to the book but also make it accessible to audiences to still be able to enjoy and some will draw similarities to Cast Away and Apollo 13 specifically but as someone who has seen a lot of space film this film felt like a nice breath of fresh air that was needed for the genre. The film explores deep themes of Isolation, anxiety and abandonment and how a friendship can help feed the soul to bring the light back into your heart and regardless if it human or not that sense of connection is essential for human beings and non humans too. The message and how they drive that home had me in a puddle of tears that will move audiences while still delivering that sense of adventurous fun and humour Ryan is so talented at delivering. I could argue this is the best film they have ever done from a directed point of view as so much of their personality shines through in the work here as it shows the dramatic beats that breath and deliver amazingly well without feeling undercut and it also has that shining humour we love from them but also that childlike wonder that makes their films so fun. Project Hail Mary you can tell they had so much fun making but also wanted to give people a space adventure they have not felt before and they delivered on all fronts giving some of their best work yet Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are truly gifted artists that are overlooked far too often.