Project Hail Mary: sci-fi that is able to amaze, amaze, amaze | First Take

My oh my, have cinemas been crying out for a film like this. Sci-fi is a complex genre to navigate, and a more difficult one to master for a modern, mainstream audience - enter Lord and Miller. Yes, the directors who got fired from Star Wars for not towing the LucasFilm brand. They're known for visions that defy what some producers want to see, so giving them a film like this feels like a proper statement in a way...

A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing Earth's sun, and realizes that an unexpected friendship may be the key.

Based on Andy Weir's book of the same name, this is a very faithful adaptation into film, with some elements tweaked by Drew Goddard for the usual big screen 'artistic license' - but what Lord and Miller have done is deliver a 2 hour 36 minute epic that is proper all killer, with zero filler. It is paced very well, has many tributes to bold sci-fi that has come before, and packs some serious emotional punch for a film made by talent who until now, have been known for comedy. Greig Fraser also deploys some new tricks behind the camera, most notably some smart use of lens trickery to transition in and out of the expanded aspect ratios that the film is presented in - really showing off the reason why the biggest screens are ideal for seeing this one as Lord and Miller intended it. Plus, Daniel Pemberton's score has been on loop ever since I seen the film, which is always the hallmark of quality.

From a casting perspective - somewhere a casting director is cracking open champagne, as Ryan Gosling's renaissance is well and truly complete. His work is pivotal to how well this film comes together, and paired with Sandra Huller and Lionel Boyce, the humans in this film are great - but the real magic comes when we see Gosling work with puppeteer James Ortiz to make Rocky, the world's new favourite Eridean, come to life. The vast majority of the film - including the visual effects - are practical, and you can tell. This really is sci-fi, made with love, by people who get what Kubrick did with 2001, what Nolan did with Interstellar, and what good quality cinema should look like, in their own style and voice. It's one that commands a rewatch or two, just because of its sheer scope.

THE VERDICT

See this film, end of discussion. Big. Bold. Loud. And proudly original - this is a shot in the arm that Hollywood has needed, and even as it comes to the end of its cinema run, it is a movie that people are still talking about.

RATING: 5/5