Breaking: Ryan Gosling Becomes Space Besties with Happy Rock Alien

Movie: Project Hail Mary

Director: Phil Lord & Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie)

Cinematography: Greig Fraser (The Batman, Dune)

Writer: Drew Goddard (The Martian)

Runtime: 156 minutes (2 hours 36 minutes)

Book first? Yes.

Spoilers? Yes. Lots.

Space movies. Got a lot of them in the last decade, but they're kind of hard to come by these days. Few and far between. But the weird-smile-logo-company gods decided to bless us with this one. Do we feel blessed? No. Will we receive the blessings regardless? Perhaps.

The movie opens in a spaceship. Ryan Gosling is just waking up from a coma he's been in for 11 years, which is the time it took from Earth to where the ship (the Hail Mary) is in space. We soon find out his two crew mates are dead, before we find out what kind of space jokes they had in store for us. He has no memory of who or where he is, and slowly pieces things together.

Next, we're shown a classroom. Cute science kids ask their quirky (this is for men too) science teacher science questions. But, in this Ryan Gosling cinematic universe, there are microscopic space monsters called Astrophage eating their Sun's energy, threatening mass extinction within 30 years. The kids know this because the pending doom is no secret.

Shortly after the class, RG is approached by a stern science lady, who doesn't do jokes. She's seen his research on 'insert important space movie topic', thinks it's good and wants him to help save the world from the sun-eating monsters. He says no, they do the song and dance, and in a movie minute he's at the lab saving the world.

We later find out he's forced onto the spaceship. Like literally dragged, drugged and dressed in his space coma clothes, totally against his will. This was refreshing because space guys are usually noble, brave and so eager to die in space. It was nice to see someone say “no” very seriously and mean it.

His research was too important to leave behind, so he's sent to Tau Ceti (the only unaffected star) to find a solution. That's how he meets this rock alien he calls Rocky. They become besties, then save the world together. Well, they save both worlds because Rocky was also sent on a suicide mission to save his dying star.

Rocky isn't your stereotypical alien. Think rock-shaped spider, or spider-shaped rock. There's no in-between. There's also no face. They learn to communicate using a translation machine, and Rocky speaks in broken English ("me am" instead of "I").

The Bad

The movie moves between past and present, kind of like Interstellar, but only in that way. It doesn't really help you suspend disbelief, so some of the emotional highs and lows don't land the way they should. And there are a lot of those. RG is going to die, but jk, he's fine. Rocky dies, sort of, but not really. They get the sample they need, have sad goodbye and part ways. But oh, there's a leak, so he sends the samples through the probes back to Earth, then goes back to save his friend. And makes it just in time.

The dialogue was kind of icky too. Unoriginal. RG didn't really sell this one, it was sort of like watching Ken in space, doing science stuff. Rocky is also relegated to sidekick from the start of their relationship, which was a bit weird for an alien sent to save its dying sun. Didn't really seem like it had its own mission, but was just there to help RG complete his. There wasn't much Rocky backstory either, and the bit we got seemed forced and unoriginal. If I could communicate with a space alien, rock or no, I'd want to know everything. Everything.

The Practical Effects

Looked good. For a space movie, there was a lot of color on the spaceship. Also, not a single green screen was used. The entire ship was built as a practical set. Rocky was a puppet operated by five artists, led by James Ortiz, on set during filming. The space shots are stunning, and the ship feels real. Everything feels tangible.

What Else?

The science is very digestible. RG was crazy for walking up to that space alien's ship. Would've poked my leg out to kick the floaty stuff back and called it a month. The movie doesn't really make you care about anything, not the alien, not the lead, not the Sun, not the happy ending. Liked the stern science lady though. She was cool.

The best part of the movie was the end. Haven't read the book.

Should you see it? Yes, just because. No high hopes going in though. Enjoy.