Project Hail Mary: A Decent Sci-Fi Epic in Need of Some Trimming (4K)

The Film:

Back in 2015, Drew Goddard adapted Andy Weir's epic sci-fi novel "The Martian" for acclaimed director Sir Ridley Scott, resulting in a cinematic triumph praised by critics & audiences, one which was ultimately a major box office success that received an impressive seven Oscar nominations (including Best Picture). Eleven years later, Goddard has turned to Weir once again to adapt another of his epic works called "Project Hail Mary," this time for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller ("The LEGO Movie," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"). The material certainly has a lot of potential, but can it possibly come anywhere near the major success of the previous Weir outing?

In the near future, middle school teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up aboard the spaceship Hail Mary with no idea how he got there or why he's there, though he's quickly able to discern that he is the only survivor of the three-person crew and that they are headed to the Tau Ceti system. We learn in flashbacks that a crisis has arisen in which a substance called "astrophage" is dimming the sun, which will cause significant & disastrous global cooling in thirty years.

Grace, a former molecular biologist, is recruited by Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller), the head of the taskforce formed to deal with the crisis, to investigate the substance, which is actually a lifeform that absorbs radiation to use for propolsion. This all leads to Project Hail Mary, an appropriately-named long-shot mission that will take a small crew to the one star in their system that is not being affected by the astrophage in hopes of discovering an answer to their problem. Grace is eventually able to piece all of this together, ultimately putting the fate of the world in his hands.

"Project Hail Mary" aims to be another epic space adventure, one that once again has its protagonist facing the unknown, but this time, the survival of Earth hangs in the balance. In regard to how successful it is in reaching that goal, Goddard and Lord & Miller are able to get there... eventually. That is to say that the film takes its time to really delve into the meat of its ambitious narrative. Not only do we have to wade through Grace trying to get his bearings as to what's going on, but there are also a multitude of flashbacks that give us far more than we need in regards to filling us in on the situation, all of which causes a somewhat awkward delay before the film truly takes off.

That said, when it does get Grace situated and fully focuses on the crisis at hand, it becomes a pretty compelling watch, one that's made even more so by the unique & unexpected relationship that Grace forms with an alien lifeform that he meets along the way. The rock-based creature, which he dubs "Rocky" (Voice of James Ortiz), is also the only survivor of his crew, who were on the same mission as Grace. The close bond that is formed between these two actually forms the centerpiece of the film, which may seem a little strange considering that both of them are there to save their respective worlds, but the evolution of their relationship actually proves far more interesting as they have to break the language barrier, figure each other out, and work together towards their common goal. This gives the film its beating heart, and gives the audience much more to latch on to, instead of just a regular "save the world" storyline, which is mildly intriguing, but wouldn't provide nearly as much emotional depth on its own.

Circling back to the film's biggest issue, what really needed to happen here was a little more trimming to really bring the story into better focus. As mentioned, it does take quite a long time to finally get a move on, but even then, it continues to get distracted by more and more flashbacks that don't really serve much purpose (did we really need to see a karaoke party?) simply because the only major question on everyone's mind is how Grace ended up on the ship when he wasn't meant to be part of the crew. On top of that, there are several other moments throughout Grace's present storyline that feel like the film is delaying/losing focus as well.

All that's to say that this 150-minute version of the film feel like it's the "Directors' Cut," that is, the version that contains all of the extra scenes that typically end up on the cutting room floor. This is what makes it rather shocking to find out that this is actually the heavily-cut version, for the first version that actually screened for a select few ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes, while the original assembly cut ran for over four hours. Apparently a massive subplot on Earth was thrown out, as were several additional flashbacks, and more of Grace alone in space, just to name some of the material, but the point is that even the directors realized that a lot it needed to go, so it becomes perplexing as to why they didn't finish the job and excise the rest of the material that was superfluous in order to make the story much tighter & bring the over-stretched runtime down considerably (a common complaint was that the film ran about 30 minutes too long, which is about right).

Don't get me wrong, "Project Hail Mary" is a good film, one that does become rather exciting & emotionally involving when it's fully-focused on its epic narrative, but it is a bit of a shame because, with a little more editing, it could've been a great one. It still has quite a lot of strengths, including a great performance from Ryan Gosling, incredible production design, and marvelous special effects, but overall, much like the astrophages that are dimming the sun, the film gets dimmed a little by its odd pacing. Indeed, this could've been a grand, powerful, and great epic, but in the end, it merely has to settle for being a decent one.

Video/Audio:

"Project Hail Mary" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1/1.43:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of marvelous quality. The picture is beautifully sharp & clear throughout the entire 156-minute duration, perfectly highlighting its incredible production design & remarkable special effects. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is excellent, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, MGM has done a wonderful job in both departments for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Commentary by Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Deleted Scenes (5 Sequences, 10 Minutes)

Earth's Favorite Eridian (8 Minutes): A behind-the-scenes look at how Rocky was brought to life.

Conclusion:

Phil Lord & Christopher Miller's "Project Hail Mary" is a rousing, emotional sci-fi adventure, that is, when it's fully-focused on its ambitious narrative. Along the way it gets bogged down by a rather slow start and several distractions, primarily in the way of extended flashbacks, that cause it to lose sight of its aim, but thanks to the film's other strengths, which include getting to watch the evolution of its antagonist's relationship with an unexpected friend, as well as stunning production design & visual effects, it balances out to become a decent epic that simply needed a little trimming.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

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