Summary: 9/10: thrilling, funny, emotionally resonant sci-fi that uses its high concept to ask essential questions about cooperation, sacrifice, and whether we can save ourselves before it's too late.
I hadn't read Andy Weir's award-winning novel before seeing the film, so I wouldn't be disappointed by the adaptation. And I wasn't. The Lord-Miller team, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, made this an exciting and rewarding sci-fi film that captures Weir's science-heavy problem-solving while never losing sight of its emotional core.
Ryan Gosling totally nailed the sardonic scientist, insisting on playing someone not good at being in space, someone who flips out and feels clumsy in zero gravity. His character arc, from isolated problem-solver to someone capable of profound emotional connection with Rocky, a sentient rock-shaped alien, is beautifully rendered. Gosling brings vulnerability and humor to a role that could have been purely cerebral, making Grace's transformation genuinely moving.
The premise of the film carries urgent relevance: we humans can survive only within a rather narrow temperature range. Project Hail Mary presents a cooling scenario, but the existential threat is the same whether we cool or overheat through global warming. The astrophage consuming the sun's energy becomes a metaphor for the forces draining our planet's capacity to sustain life.
According to a study published in Nature, almost two-thirds of global warming is caused by the wealthiest 10% of the world. Our time is running out, and this film functions as a call to action: we need many heroes like Grace and Rocky to step up and wrestle our future from the wealthy capitalists, monopolists, "kings," dictators, and other "astrophages" consuming resources without regard for collective survival.
Lord and Miller, working from Drew Goddard's screenplay, balance the novel's technical problem-solving with genuine humor and heart. The film understands that science fiction at its best isn't just about solving equations; it's about what we're willing to risk, who we're willing to become, to save each other.
I read the book and loved it. Will I be disappointed by the movie?
I loved the book and thought the movie was a perfectly cromulent adaptation. It's not a perfect film, and doesn't replace the book, but I enjoyed it a lot. I can see why they made the changes they made, though I feel act 1 dragged on a little bit.
Thanks.
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Books can do so much more. If nothing else, a good film adaptation sparks interest in the book from those who never read it.
Yeah, I really appreciated having the visual workload done for me in watching the movie. The book was so good I read it in 2 days, then watched the movie.
The movie does a really good job and is visually stunning, but of course they couldnt do a fully faithful adaptation of the book. Making the book into a movie detail for detail would have easily been a 4 hour plus movie. I appreciated that they had little unexplained easter eggs to reference parts of the book they didnt have time for, like showing the names on the beetles before they launched. Sad the movie missed out on that killer Pete Best joke tho
Really hoping this success gives them the motivation they need to actually make the Artemis movie
It glosses over the “science-ing the shit out of things,” to use a Weir-ism, favoring the emotional connection , and compacts some other plot points, but everything that must be there is there, and done well. IMHO it’s pretty close to perfect as an adaptation to complement and revisit the book in a dramatic way, but it wouldn’t replace reading it.
For the record, I think project Hail Mary is a much better book than the Martian is, but the two films are roughly equivalent in quality. Damon is a little better than Gosling as the author stand-in, but r the Rocky dynamic makes PHM a more compelling story.
I’ll chime in with the other folks. I read the book when it was new and loved it. I was really excited for the movie but held reservations because adaptations are not always great. I went to see it opening weekend, which is something I rarely do, last time it was for the latest TMNT movie.
The movie was fantastic! There are a few changes, which are understandable and it doesn’t go as in depth into the science, but it’s a great adaptation. My partner did not read the book, but he really liked the movie as well. He had a few questions that I was able to answer because the movie was my second time through the story.
I also recommended the book to my FIL because he’s an old engineering nerd and he really enjoyed it too. My in laws went to see the movie the first week it was out and loved the movie.
I hope you enjoy it too!
It basically has all the story points. Just crammed in a very small package. And a bit goofier vibe. But it's fine.
Yeah I'm convinced. Can't wait to see Rocky and hear how they communicate.
Probably not.
There's some hand-waving about the science stuff, which I understand. Detailed explanations work in the book but wouldn't in a movie, at least for 90% of viewers.
I did not like some changes they made to characters behaviour, but nothing really major.