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, then saw the movie.
Apparent plot holes (can't remember them right now) in the movies are explained by the book. And so many unexplained details like the
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nature and behavior of the astrophageAnd also
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why Grace didn't die the same way Rocky's colleagues in space didare explained in the book, making it a superb tie in.
Loved them both. If you haven't read the book, you should.
I thought they did explain the third "plothole" in the film...
The biggest plothole/question I had was
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When they go "fishing" on the planet, why didnt they just pull the space craft up first, then reel it back in?What was the reason it had to be manually retrieved first at the risk and height of danger?
IIRC it's explained in the book.
If they moved first, the chain would be dragged behind the spaceship, and the energy emitted by the engines (which would be at full throttle) would instantly vaporize the container.
It’s because the ship wasn’t made to withstand the level of gravity on Adrian. It would have taken longer to leave the atmosphere had they been lower in the planet. The ship would have been crushed. Adrian is a gas giant just like Venus is. Also The Taumoeba only lived in a specific atmospheric band where the temperature and pressure allowed them to breed.
Nono, I understand why they did the fishing thing. My question is, why didnt they just pull up first THEN retrieve the lure. Instead of, trying to retrieve the lure first while risking the ship falling into Adrian's atmosphere?
The lure had to be some form of air tight when closed to begin with, right? Since it had to be brought aboard. So what difference did it make reeling it in before getting the ship to safety first?
Maybe when the ship would be out of the gravitational pull but the lure still in it would separate the two of them from each other..?