Project Hail Mary - Review: Shoot for the Stars

 

Way back in 2011, Andy Weir self-published his first novel and quickly “The Martian” became a smash hit. After a 2015 film adaptation proved to be a critical and box-office success, Weir’s future as a successful science fiction author seemed unlimited. So much so that when his latest novel was announced in 2020, the film rights were snatched up before it was even released. Now, after years of work and development, directors Phil Lord (“The LEGO Movie,” “21 Jump Street (2012)”) and Christopher Miller (“The LEGO Movie,” “21 Jump Street (2012)”) have returned with their first directed film in over a decade, taking Weir’s specific blend of science fiction back to the big screen.

“Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling (“Barbie,” “La La Land”) as Ryland Grace, a microbiologist and middle school science teacher recruited by Eva Stratt, played by Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Zone of Interest”), for Project Hail Mary, a secret government project to help scientists around the world figure out why the sun has begun to dim and how to stop it. This task sends Grace into deep space to study Tau Ceti, the only sun that has not begun to dim, and leads him to meet Rocky, voiced by James Ortiz in his film debut, an alien lifeform who’s been sent to Tau Ceti for the same purpose as Grace.

With a premise steeped in hardcore science fiction tropes and techniques, you need a lead who is capable of not only diving into the density but also keeping the human element intact. Gosling is absolutely fantastic here, completely carrying the entire film with his innate charisma. However, there’s something more going on with his performance. While Lord and Miller make great use of his everyman charms, there’s an almost Chaplin-esque humility to both Grace and Gosling’s performance. Instead of simply making Grace a slowly evolving hero, there’s a depth to his misunderstandings that helps humanize him and makes his triumphs even more satisfying. It’s a pure weaponization of Gosling’s disarming emotional talents and his physical comedy skills and it makes for his most compelling lead performance since 2016’s “The Nice Guys.”

Hüller plays her role much more straight-faced than Gosling, and this disarming of his more lackadaisical nature allows the two to play off each other’s perspectives in their scenes. It builds not only their chemistry, but allows the later, more dire scenes to punch a bit harder while also working as a pseudo-metaphor for the varying different ways one could approach such harrowing circumstances. Lord and Miller meanwhile make particularly great usage of the other supporting characters, such as Lionel Boyce (“The Bear,” “Loiter Squad”) as Carl, a security guard Grace befriends while working on Project Hail Mary. Boyce instantly becomes a standout despite his brief appearance, with Carl and Grace’s friendship further establishes the deeply human core of the film’s identity.

While the supporting cast is full of standouts and scene stealers, it’s incredible to say the one who’s burgled the most moments is Ortiz as Rocky, the rocky-like alien puppet that becomes Gosling’s scene partner for a large majority of the film. This is where things become a buddy movie, and despite their stark physical differences, Gosling and Ortiz keep the banter high. The friendship they form becomes the big beating heart of the film, which further deepens the stakes beyond just the fate of their two worlds. It’s a double act that strengthens every other aspect of the film by relation. Rocky himself is an incredible design that manages to maintain his alien aspects without sacrificing an inherent adorable quality to him, working as a feat of puppetry and seamless digital effects.

Drew Goddard’s (“Cloverfield,” “The Cabin in the Woods”) script manages to blend the intense scientific aspects of Weir’s novel with its most deeply human aspects to great effect. It’s clear that his previous experience adapting Weir’s writing as screenwriter of “The Martian” has paid off here, and his work is fantastic. It works because, given the unknown nature of the scientific mystery, Grace and Rocky are learning along with the audience. Because of this, it doesn’t dumb down the discoveries, instead plainly explaining its science as the film progresses without relying on exposition or narration. But those deeply human and personal moments spread throughout the film, like Carl and Grace’s scenes and a brief moment of Eva singing karaoke days before takeoff, are what make this a truly special kind of film. It’s the kind of film where the events would still be harrowing and exciting without character work this deep, but because it excels in that aspect, you’re on the edge of your seat not because of the exciting events, but because of what they mean to those characters.

Surrounding all of the charisma and relationships and big beating heart is a production of true beauty and technical mastery. Lord and Miller have crafted this tale of deep space as a remarkably physical one, with Grace’s and Rocky’s ships each being fully built practical sets. Like Rocky himself, it allows for a tangible sense of reality and stakes for the film, as well as working as a feat of production craft. Rocky’s ship in particular is nothing short of breathtaking as it blends the digital effects with the craft of production designer Charles Wood (“Doctor Strange,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”). It’s a perfect example of big budgets being spent to make films that truly feel like grand scale production as opposed to green screen heavy digital works.

But all of that technical craft would mean nothing without a cinematographer like Greg Frasier (“The Batman,” “Dune: Part Two”) behind the camera. His skill is evident here as he shoots with a particular eye for the majesty of this kind of tale, manipulating camera placements and movements, even changing aspect ratios whether we’re deep in space on grounded on Earth. Daniel Pemberton’s (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7”) score combines with Frasier’s images to create a beautiful sense of style and space, with numerous moments standing out for pure visual and auditory beauty. Color pops from every frame and numerous moments make for all encompassing shots, as the images and sound simply wash over you. It’s the kind of film built for the cinema experience but does so with a deft and calm hand. As opposed to more action-heavy works that justify such and experience, like “One Battle After Another” or “Dune: Part Two,” “Project Hail Mary” does so in an achingly human and almost calmingly emotional way.

Comparisons have been made to “Interstellar” leading up to the release of “Project Hail Mary,” and while they are both about space, the films couldn’t be more different. What Lord, Miller, Goddard, Gosling, and the rest of the team have accomplished here is a film that understands the science, the spectacle, and the awe of what a film like this needs and they’ve delivered every aspect of that with flying colors. But what makes this feel like a truly special work is the care in the heart of it. It’s a story about kindness and helpfulness and friendship, and how each person can excel. Calling it a human film doesn’t feel accurate. Rather, it’s a deeply felt work of cosmic hope, one of the best films in recent memory, and one that will move you to the stars. 5/5

The Bride! - Review: A Monstrous Woman

 

What does one do with identity? The very idea of identity has been the central thought for films and stories since the inception of either medium. Mary Shelley’s genre defining science fiction novel “Frankenstein” might just be the earliest example of a work taking that thought of identity and truly poking at and questioning it for a broad audience. Filmmakers and other writers have taken her tale and morphed it into their own visions for decades since, and now a new, bold, and unique take on the tale after that tale has arrived. “The Bride!” has arrived.

The film stars Jessie Buckley (“Women Talking,” “Hamnet”) in dual roles as Mary Shelley, the author of “Frankenstein,” and Penelope Rogers, the woman who would become the titular Bride. After an accident leads to Penelope’s death, she is revived by Dr. Cornelia Euphronious, played by Anette Benning (“The Kids Are All Right,” “Nyad”), and Frankenstein, played by Christian Bale (“The Dark Knight,” “America Psycho”). Frankenstein is looking for a companion, and soon takes the Bride as his own, with the pair on the run across the country from mobsters and cops. Among those chasing them are detectives Jake Wiles and Myrna Malloy, played by Peter Sarsgaard (“Shattered Glass,” “Jackie (2016)”) and Penélope Cruz (“Volver,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) respectively, and Clyde, played by John Magaro (“The Big Short,” “First Cow”), a mobster associate and then man responsible for the accident that killed Penelope.

Regardless of your thoughts on the rest of the film, make no mistake: this is Buckley’s film and she absolutely steals the show. Her almost bipolar kind of performance here borders on transformative and takes what could have been a schlocky B movie into… well a shlocky B movie with a genuine fantastic lead performance. She’s electric, pun entirely intended, and her physicality is unmatched throughout. She also somehow manages to have note perfect chemistry with herself thanks to the all too brief interjections from Buckley’s portrayal of Shelley. Bale is also great, although in a far more restrained kind of way compared to Buckley’s role. They play excellently together and manage to twist this tale into a genuinely bitter love story by the end. Benning, while underutilized, is also great as a wild haired mad scientist that certainly fits into the archetypical mold, but still allows the actress to have plenty of fun with the material.

Outside of them, the rest of the cast seems far more satisfied to take the paycheck and leave. Sarsgaard and Cruz aren’t bad, but their roles feel so cookie-cutter that they almost seem like the kind of stereotypical detective roles trotted out for improv shows or Mad Magazine bits. At one point, one of them literally says “I picked a bad day to start drinking” and that’s all you need to know about their performances. Magaro meanwhile is fine enough, but the film simply forgets he exists for a large part of the plot, and the mobster element already isn’t one that’s particularly engaging.

What is engaging though is the film’s vision of this twisted early 1930s Chicago. There’s an almost steampunk aspect to the environment, and colors pop in virtually every scene. Costume Design lead by Sandy Powell (“The Favourite (2018,” “Hugo”) is thoroughly inspired and instantly iconic, particularly with Penelope’s striking orange dress and black formaldehyde stain streaking across her mouth. It’s a dizzying visual identity that is certainly writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s (“The Lost Daughter,” “The Dark Knight”) clear vision. That vision will likely be the most divisive aspect of the film writ large, as it’s a clear and uncompromising tale, reinterpreting and recontextualizing the idea of the Bride with a more modern, revolutionary, feminist point of view.

The earliest aspects of the film, particularly the entire first half, are when it works best. There’s a loose and frenetic energy that makes the film work well as midnight movie fare: lots of thoughts thought very loudly, but with purposefully less internal logic. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s (“Joker,” “Chernobyl”) score backs this up, as it pulses and thumps throughout Frank and Penelope’s adventure, setting a purposefully anarchic rhythm to these events. The latter half, when things morph into more of a “Bonnie and Clyde” type story, are when things just become less interesting.

Gyllenhaal clearly has a lot of converging ideas she wants to fit into this story. The feminist revolutionary aspects, punctuated by a movement Penelope spurs on with the phrase “Brain Attack,” seems initially like the strongest throughline until it is forgotten in the second half. Frank’s love of movies, to the point where he cures a borderline panic attack by going to the theater, is actually the stronger central idea, eventually culminating in the film’s best scene involving a mind-control impromptu dance sequence at a crashed party. That is the only aspect truly kept intact once the scattershot second half begins, as almost all of the truly oddball identity, including the arresting and all too brief moments with Buckley as Shelley, stop. It’s up to Buckley and Bale to carry that latter half and luckily they do manage to prevent it from completely collapsing in on itself.

“The Bride!” is a title punctuated with an exclamation point and Gyllenhaal’s version of this story is clearly one she wants to tell loudly. If nothing else, Buckley’s exhilarating central performance makes this worth watching, and the jumbling of ideas certainly crafts its own identity. It’s a shame that identity can’t be carried for the entire runtime, but for all the peaks and valleys on display here, it’s still unlike pretty much anything else you’re going to see in a movie theater this year. It’s a bold film that absolutely buckles under the weight of its own self-referential ambitions. But like its titular undead lead, its just throws that broken arm around as it keeps on dancing. 3.5/5