Project Hail Mary is a science fiction movie that I went into watching as blind and spoiler free as I could because of the reputation of the author and directors. Andy Weir is now known by his prior book that got adapted into a film, The Martian, which was widely acclaimed by its adherence to science, engineering, and reasonable assumptions of human exploration of Mars. The directors for Project Hail Mary are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who have a strong filmography, though mostly pertaining to animated films such as the latest Spider-Man and Lego Movie animations.

A lot of the times when I follow creators with history such as these I go watch their movies based on name alone. Others I follow are Denis Villeneuve and Alex Garland. I prefer the experience of going in not really knowing what's going to happen. The unknown and unexpected, for myself at least, make it a bit more enjoyable. And in this movie I was not disappointed.

This was certainly a fun adventure, now a kind of classic style now for these kinds of semi-near future space movies. Interstellar is another that comes to mind, and I think there are a few similarities with that one. The journey is aboard a spacecraft, a design certainly inspired by the International Space Station, as it travels to another star system to find the solution to the main inciting incident of the movie.

There are flashbacks to provide a dual narrative as the main character, Dr. Grace portrayed by Ryan Gosling, has amnesia after coming out of an induced coma during the transit to this other star. Slowly throughout the movie Grace, in the present on board the Hail Mary slowly remembers these moments before leaving Earth.

What might be my only major criticism is that the tone of these flashbacks compared to the present are quite different. As Grace and a companion work together to find the solution, the relationship and moments are quite fun and lighthearted. The flashbacks are serious, and at times a bit dark in the consequences for failure. The movie proceeded along quickly, and I didn't feel there wasn't enough separation from the moments of laughing and stark silence.

And while the movie was nearly two and half hours long, it felt rushed at times. I kind of wish they release an extended version later. There was a lot in the story, and from what I have read elsewhere, even more in the book. Which I think that means I may need to slot this into my reading list.

All in all I really enjoyed the movie. One of my favorites in recent years. If I lived closer to a theater I may even have seen it a second time. A definite recomendation from myself.