nateeccles823

Liked it more the second time around. I can understand the dislike for this movie since the characters can be pretty annoying, and I thought I’d rate it lower since I wasn’t a huge fan of the first half. Once it gets going, though, it really gets going. I liked the found footage approach, and I think it helped enhance the scariness of it all. I also love how it capitalizes on the audience’s fear of the unknown and never prematurely reveals what’s following them. This one had me peeking over my shoulder before I went to sleep, really proving just how effective of a horror film it is.

A silly, visually dazzling space adventure. People will inevitably make comparisons to Interstellar, but Project Hail Mary takes itself much less seriously. The science is intentionally simplified to keep it palatable for a broader audience, and like Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s past films, there is a heavy dose of humor. I personally enjoyed the dorkiness of Ryan Gosling’s character and felt it made him more endearing, but there were moments where it felt forced and a little frustrating, since it undercut some of the emotional stakes of serious situations. I also think some of the pacing is a little iffy. The start feels a little rushed, but that’s to be expected when you’re adapting a 16 hour audiobook into a two and a half hour movie. That said, the tear-jerking moments *really *land. I thought Rocky was a great character and I loved his chemistry with Grace, and Sandra Hüller’s rendition of “Sign of the Times” made me cry (you should watch Toni Erdmann if you haven’t yet; she is brilliant in that). I also think Ryan Gosling gives one of his best performances. He’s a big reason why the emotional moments work so effectively. And finally, so many of the space sequences made my jaw drop. Just mesmerizing. I’m a little surprised by the 4.4 average rating, but I had a great time with it and I’m happy so many people love the film.