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By Leah Read.
Project Hail Mary is a heartwarming and engaging film, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller who have previously made The Lego Movie (2019) and Cloudy With The Chance of Meatballs (2009). The narrative follows a middle-aged school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) who wakes up from a coma on a spaceship with no memory of reason as to why he had been sent up to deep space. Ryland must embark on a mission to uncover the mystery behind the sun that is dying which is causing a threat to humanity’s extinction. During the course of the film, he faces impossible challenges and encounters an unexpected bond that could possibly change the fate of the two worlds.
The whole film I genuinely loved and enjoyed, to have that experience of watching it for the first time again would be amazing. Diving into a bit more depth and detail I would say that without giving any spoilers the film’s cinematography and visuals created by Greig Fraser were very immersive and beautifully executed throughout, including the use of desaturated colours of space that generates the creation of a cinematic feeling when watching. Fraser relies heavily on tactile in-camera practical effects instead of using CGI and traditional green screens, coming up with interesting ways of experimenting with unique shooting and camera angle shots to bring an authentic story to life. A moment of cinematography that caught my attention in Project Hail Mary would have to be the Astrophage sequence which has been cleverly put together and feel fully immersed. This sequence has been crafted so interestingly, Fraser’s innovation is that he wanted to create an ethereal, glowing, infrared space phenomenon capturing LED lights through his Arri Alexa camera lens.
Watching Project Hail Mary in 4DX format was like a whole different experience in the cinema. The effect of cinematography is to create a theatrical spectacle for the viewers and for the audience to feel deeply immersed into this universe. A scene that particularly stood out for me was the “time to go fishing” expedition scene, that scene is phenomenally crafted together to give it that rollercoaster feeling of wonder and panic of what is happening during that moment on that spaceship.
Ryan Gosling delivers a captivating and emotionally engaging performance as Ryland Grace. His performance balances humour, emotional depth and intelligence as he portrays his character as the relucent hero within the narrative. His bond with the Eridian (species) alien Rocky is heartwarming and they are platonic soulmates which is shown through their value of each other’s company and companionship. They are also both scientific geniuses in their own areas such as mathematics and knowledge of biology.
Overall, the film is definitely sci fi at it’s absolute best, I recommend watching this film as it keeps you hooked, grounded and captivated. The experiences that audiences will expect from this film include an emotionally engaging and thrilling narrative, visually stunning cinematography and an outstanding performance from Ryan Gosling. Watching Project Hail Mary in 4DX was one of the best decisions I made and would one hundred percent recommend the viewers to have that once in a lifetime experience.
