Project Hail Mary is the long awaited follow up to author Andy Weir’s first feature film book adaptation The Martian (2015). The film follows scientist Ryland Grace after waking up in a different solar system. He quickly realizes he is on a quest from Earth to save the planet from sun eating particles called astrophage. Fans of the book have been eagerly awaiting the film’s release since its announcement in 2020.
The movie does many things very well, but it is not without its faults. Despite this I believe it is a step in the right direction for adaptations as a whole. The pressure was on to get this adaptation right, and the movie succeeds most where it matters: the characters.
The characters in the film are done extremely well considering the time constraints of the medium. The character of Grace brings much of the funny yet deeply sad existence over from the book. The real star though is Rocky. This was one of the things fans of the book worried about the most. Could the film deliver on the lovable and charming nature of Rocky from the book? Well in my opinion, yes. Rocky is every bit as lovable in the film as he is in the book. In fact, I would say he’s even more so. This is one of the major strengths of the adaptation of the film. It truly does turn up the visual humor of Rocky to a ten and characterize him even better than the book, highlighting all of his little quirks.
The relationship between Rocky and Grace is almost ripped from the pages but I believe the film improves on this as well. The emotional impact of many of the scenes are elevated by the visuals of Grace and Rocky, and you can feel that a lot of thought was put into each one. The camaraderie you feel through the characters greatly exceeded my expectations. This was elevated even more by the next thing I loved and what I believe is the best part of the film: the score.
First off let me just say wow. The score for this film is truly breathtaking. As an avid movie watcher, I try to pay close attention to films’ score and in recent years I have felt let down quite often. However, this is not the case with Project Hail Mary. Composer Daniel Pemberton, known for his work on movies such as Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse fills this film with beautiful blends that truly add to the gorgeous scenery and emotional impact of every scene. One scene in particular features a song titled “A Moment.” This song starts slowly as choir voices fade in, then just as the shot of the film lights up with shimmering particles floating through the vast space scenery the band joins and the scene truly comes to life. The song adds an emotional layer to the scene that I’ve never felt before in another film. This masterful score follows throughout the entire film and adds greatly to the emotional depth of the film. However, not every part of the production is as polished as the score, especially when you look at how the story is paced
The weakest aspect of the film, in my opinion, is its fast-tracked storytelling. Fast-tracking in book to screen adaptations is common and is generally accepted as something that has to be done to convert to a medium like film. Despite this I don’t think Project Hail Mary did it very well. The storylines they chose to cut out feel very weird and make a good portion of the middle section of the film flow awkwardly. It felt like they hadn’t completely decided what was important to keep and what could be left out. This resulted in an oddly stitched together storyline that doesn’t quite line up right. This paired with the added scenes and storylines makes the viewing experience, especially for film-only watchers, a bit rough and raises many questions that were answered concisely in the book.
While these narrative gaps might bother some viewers, the strengths of the movie ultimately outweigh its weaknesses. While not perfect, I believe Project Hail Mary does an excellent job of adapting the book to film. It ultimately captures the heart of the story and ushers in a new wave of hope for book to screen adaptations in the future. This is a must watch for not only fans of the book but fans of sci-fi as a whole.
Chayce LeShawn Papp is a second-year English major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
