‘Project Hail Mary’ Review: An Awe-Inspiring Sci-Fi Spectacle, Fueled by Ryan Gosling’s Star Power

There’s a general understanding in the entertainment industry, and certainly amongst critics, that if a studio doesn’t screen their movie for the press, they’re probably not very proud of it. Heck, even if they only screen the movie a day or two beforehand, that’s not a huge sign of confidence either. It gives critics zero or next to zero time to discuss that film before its release, which suggests the studio thinks critics are likely to, you know, criticize.

This doesn’t mean movies that screen late, or don’t screen, are necessarily going to be bad. We won’t know until we see them. Sometimes they’re great! But the old joke in the film critic community is that it’s usually not a good sign. So when a film like “Project Hail Mary” does the other thing, and screens super early — like, weeks and weeks early — it also says something. It says the studio is pretty sure they’ve got a hit on their hand. Or at least that they think nerds will like it. Whether they’re right is for us to decide, but if we’re going to raise an eyebrow whenever things look bad, maybe we should raise the other one when there’s a tiny reason to hope.

“Project Hail Mary” is based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote “The Martian.” Like “The Martian,” a lot of “Project Hail Mary” is just one guy, trapped in outer space, solving impossible problems by science-ing the s–t out of them. Like “The Martian,” it stars a bona fide movie star, this time Ryan Gosling, who can carry a film like this all by himself. Like “The Martian,” it was adapted by Drew Goddard, who knows how to tell an exciting story with intelligence and humor. And like “The Martian,” yes, it’s true: It’s really, really, really quite good.

It’s just… a lot like “The Martian.” That’s not a bad thing. “The Martian” rules and “Project Hail Mary” does, too. Maybe that’s why Amazon MGM screened it so early. It’s probably easier to predict how your audience will respond to a movie if they already responded to it, favorably, 11 years ago.

Ryan Gosling stars as Dr. Ryland Grace. He wakes up in a spaceship, light years away from Earth. The rest of his crew is dead, and he’s coming out of a medically induced coma, which means he has memory loss. As the story progresses, flashbacks reveal an astronomical calamity has doomed the human race. Grace was instrumental in forming a plan that could save us all, but now he’s gotta do it all on his own — and he’s not fully equipped. He doesn’t even know how to pilot the spaceship.

Grace’s journey takes him to a distant solar system, where one planet seems immune to some interstellar phenomena. (I could explain what the phenomena is, but “Project Hail Mary” loves exposition more than I love certain members of my own family, so I think it would be rude to ruin this movie’s fun.) When Grace arrives, he discovers he’s not alone. Another sentient species had the exact same idea, and now they are going to have to work together to save their respective homes.

This means that “Project Hail Mary” is about to speed run the movie “Arrival,” solving all the possible communication problems between two vastly different entities and cultures in record time. Drew Goddard’s screenplay installs just enough roadblocks that it doesn’t seem too easy, but let’s be honest here, it’s still pretty easy.

The point isn’t the science, of course. The point is the story these filmmakers use science to tell. It’s easy to forgive how quickly Ryan and his cohort Rocky (voiced by James Ortiz, also the lead puppeteer) solve their language barrier because once they do, “Project Hail Mary” really starts flying. Their relationship is a wonder. Watching Grace and Rocky talking science, doing science and exploring the parallels between their cultures evokes the very best parts of “Star Trek.”

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed this film. It’s the first feature they’ve directed in 12 years, after they were booted off “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” We may never know how their version of that movie would’ve turned out, but without them, it didn’t turn out great. Now they’re back in space and it feels like they have something to prove. They’ve crafted a thrilling, attractive outer space adventure-comedy with drama that actually moves you. They took a complex production, riddled with fundamentally tricky story elements and — as they often do — they made it look easy.

There’s a staggeringly effortless quality to how staggeringly staggering “Project Hail Mary” is. Lord and Miller tell a tiny, human story about all of humanity. They’ve got epic visual effects and awe-inspiring spectacle, but never resort to hackneyed, violent conflict. Their film evokes the astonishment of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the melancholy quirkiness of “Silent Running” and the charming geekiness of, let’s be honest here, “The Martian.” (Again.) All these effects, the fantastic character work, almost none of it feels contrived or forced. And even the bit that kinda does isn’t bad, it just could have landed harder.

“Project Hail Mary” includes a plot point, late in the film, that changes things. Not everything, it’s not “The Sixth Sense.” It just adds unexpected context, which should — by all rights — make solving the sci-fi conundrum a lot harder. It’s an exciting development, and it should rocket Lord and Miller’s film into the third act with more suspense and tension than ever before. But the filmmakers opt to reveal this information after it would have any serious dramatic effect, which is… odd.

It doesn’t ruin the film. “Project Hail Mary” is still fabulous and impressive and breathtaking cinema. It just suggests that Lord and Miller’s priorities were less about excitement and more about reassurance. “Project Hail Mary” is an incredibly optimistic film. It celebrates hope and wonder and endless possibilities. The film wants Grace to win. It is, fittingly enough for a movie with a ton of “Rocky” references, an inspiring underdog story about a guy who missed his big chance, got an unexpected and unlikely new one out of thin air, and steps up to the plate.

Could Lord, Miller and Goddard have sold it a little harder? Maybe. Or maybe not selling it too hard is the point. In the real world, everything looks dire; it’s hard to cling to hope and optimism can sometimes look naive. “Project Hail Mary” believes in hope. It believes in believing in things. And it believes that people are capable of overcoming their flaws and saving the day. All it takes is wit, wisdom and whatever worked in “The Martian.”

“Project Hail Mary” lands in theaters on March 20.

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