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Project Hail Mary review

PROJECT HAIL MARY: 

LORD AND MILLER’S FANTASTIC VOYAGE THROUGH SPACE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

MGM

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary

 

            Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land, Barbie) goes back into space (This time, not as Neil Armstrong) in Project Hail Mary, the new sci-fi film from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21/22 Jump Street, The Lego Moviefranchise, Spider-Verse franchise) and based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir who also wrote The Martianwhich became a feature film in 2015. This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I adore Lord and Miller’s work, and even back in their Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs days, I enjoyed their fast-paced comedic timing and witty dialogue. 

            But it wasn’t until 21 Jump Street and its sequel, The Lego Movie, and especially Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Though they only produced that and the sequels), where I became a full-on fan for life of their films, so Project Hail Mary was right at the top of my movie-watching agenda. While I’m not sure how faithful this film is to the book (I never read it for myself), I can gladly say that Lord and Miller delivered one glorious voyage through space with Project Hail Mary. 

            This movie is awesome and absolutely worth seeing on the largest screen possible, but amongst the spectacle, it’s a special effects big screen blockbuster that has a brain and, most importantly, a heart. It treats its audience with intelligence and really makes you care about what’s happening in the story and with its characters. 

            The film follows Dr. Ryland Grace (Gosling), an astronaut who suddenly wakes up on the Hail Mary spacecraft with no memory of how he got there, who was selected for a mission to save the Earth’s sun from dying. It turns out he was actually a middle school science teacher and former molecular biologist and the sole survivor of three (Which is not a spoiler because it was all in the trailer!) as he regains his consciousness and pilots the Hail Mary on an epic journey across the stars to save his home planet while also befriending a rock alien which he calls Rocky (And yes, since this is an Amazon MGM release, they do reference Rocky Balboa) along the way. 

            The film also stars Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, Digger) as head of the Hail Mary project Eva Stratt, Lionel Boyce (The Bear, Shell, Motor City) as Officer Carl, Ken Leung (Lost, Industry, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Hail Mary commander Yáo Li-Jie, Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us, Marvel Rivals, Bad Shabbos) as Hail Mary pilot Olesya Ilyukhina, Liz Kingsman (Borderline, Parlement, F1) as Annie Shapiro, Mia Soteriou (Mamma Mia!, EastEnders, Game of Thrones) as Dr. Browne, and Orion Lee (First Cow, Turning Red, Rosemead) as Dr. Li. 

            Overall, Project Hail Mary is a spectacular cosmic adventure with tons of visual spectacle, bold storytelling, and Lord and Miller’s signature wit. However, it’s definitely much slower and less energized with its comedy compared to their other work; it reminded me more of how The Martian handled its humor (Which makes sense given the author of the book and the screenwriter of this film). 

            Much of the movie’s humor comes from Ryan Gosling’s charm, retorts about his current predicament, and his interactions with this animatronic rock alien, and all of that is very funny, but the film isn’t always trying to make you laugh. This is probably the most restrained and dramatic of Lord and Miller’s work, which is very dialogue-heavy with a lot of science talk; it’s not a super complex movie where you need multiple viewings to understand it (Though it certainly is appreciated to see this in theaters more than once), but you do have to pay attention. 

            The film also has a ton of heart, particularly with the friendship between Gosling’s Ryland and Rocky in one of the best cinematic Odd Couples in a long time. They actually have really strong chemistry, and the second half of this “Bromance” communicates with either alien language, finger tapping, and a text-to-speech computer voice, yet it works remarkably well. 

            I loved seeing the two of them interact with each other and work together to save their planets, and the banter between Gosling and Rocky is both funny and touching throughout the movie. To the point where something happens to one of them during the third act, and it hit me in the feels, just goes to show that a friendship between a quirky science teacher turned astronaut and a rock monster can carry a ton of emotional weight. 

            The visuals are amazing and look incredible on the big screen (I didn’t see it in IMAX, but I watched it at a theater that has a massively large screen), and it’s almost Gravity and Interstellar quality in terms of how Lord and Miller brought outer space onto the screen. The film captured the size and scope of outer space and through camera tricks and smart editing, it makes for an exhilarating and suspenseful voyage and unforgettable theater experience…not to mention a glorious middle finger to Lucasfilm for firing them from Solo: A Star Wars Story (BTW missed opportunity to play The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer in front of this film), this movie is infinitely better than Solo for the record. 

            The soundtrack is also great, whether we’re talking about Daniel Pemberton’s incredible orchestral score or various songs that play during certain scenes, such as Harry Styles’ Sign of the Times and The Beatles’ Two of Us. Pemberton’s music really makes this already epic movie feel even more epic while also adding to its emotional and quirkier moments as well, and the songs used do fit the film’s tone and don’t feel out of place. 

            Project Hail Mary joins the Dune, Gravity, and every Christopher Nolan movie ever made club as a big-screen spectacle film that reminds audiences why going to the cinema is important and why these visits should be cherished. With larger-than-life filmmaking, compelling characters, and an intelligent and touching story at the core, this is a space adventure moviegoers won’t be forgetting anytime soon…and it almost makes you forget it was made by the same studio that put out that shitty Melania documentary a couple months ago!  

Undertone review

UNDERTONE: 

AN AUDITORY DESCENT INTO MADNESS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

A24

It Wants to Be Heard in Undertone

 

            “The Most Terrifying Film You’ll Ever Hear” is unleashed upon the world in Undertone, the new horror movie from A24 and director Ian Tuason in his directorial debut. The film looked interesting from the trailer, a podcaster gets a bunch of mysterious audio recordings of a couple’s paranormal experiences that draw her into fear and paranoia…in true A24 fashion, a complete mindfuck it seemed. 

            Yeah, that’s basically what Undertone is, though I wouldn’t call it one of A24’s best or even among the best in the psychological horror genre. It’s a solid film with very effective camera work, subtle scares, and incredible sound design to make for a truly creepy theater experience. 

            The film follows Evy (Nina Kiri-The Handmaid’s Tale, Easy Land, Fingernails), a woman who hosts the paranormal investigation podcast, The Undertone Podcast, with her friend, Justin (Adam DiMarco-The Magicians, The Order, The White Lotus; who is unseen throughout the film) moving back home to be a caregiver for her dying mother. But when she and Justin receive a mysterious email containing ten audio files of a married couple experiencing paranormal noises in their home, Evy begins to question her own sanity, and the more she listens, the more frightening things get. 

            Overall, Undertone is a neat take on paranormal terror with the clever use of its sound design to convey most of the film’s horror. The movie itself is a pretty standard haunted house-style ghost movie, but the sound is what makes it come to life, with very unsettling sounds blasting through the theater speakers. 

            It really is one of those horror movies where it’s scary because of what you don’t see, kind of like Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project to some extent. The sound design is the true star of the film and is best experienced in the theater, the sounds range from audio recordings of the married couple experiencing paranormal activities, reverse versions of children’s nursery rhymes (Ba-Ba Black Sheep for example) containing subliminal messages, demonic voices talking to the characters, and the sounds of horrific things happening that you can’t see, it really adds a sense of dread and tension to the film. 

            The movie is definitely a slow burn, and it was never a bore; my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. I was engaged throughout, invested in the main character, and wondering where everything was going. 

            Nina Kiri’s Evy isn’t a super complex character or anything; she’s just a podcaster who’s a skeptic and doesn’t believe in the paranormal activities on her show, so when creepy things do start happening, and she gets terrified, you feel it. I can’t say I’m familiar with Kiri’s other work outside of Handmaid’s Tale, but I thought she did great here. 

            The camera work is also stellar, where you have scenes of Evy on her computer, but she’s off to the side with a dark space behind her, and the camera slowly zooms in not on Evy, but the dark room, thus making you think something will pop up. Of course, you also have slow panning shots that lead into other rooms and perspective shots of someone (or something) running up or down the staircase and into a hallway that are all very effective and add to the film’s suspense. 

            One of my favorite recurring scares in the film is one involving the lamp in Evy’s comatose mother’s bedroom that keeps turning on and off. Every time that happens, you’re sitting there waiting for something to jump out at you. The movie also does a lot of classic haunted house-style scares with lights flickering and things shaking around the main character while creepy voices and sounds are heard, it’s nothing new and we’ve seen that several times before in other movies, but to Undertone’s credit, it’s executed well and all of it is done inexpensively (Only a $500,000 budget which is amazing). 

            While I can’t say Undertone is a great film throughout (The ending in particular was somewhat unfulfilling), it’s a damn impressive first movie for Ian Tuason, and I hope this will lead to an exciting and prominent future for him as a filmmaker. It’s a slow burn, tension-focused horror movie that doesn’t waste its time and delivers some very effective scares. Go see it in theaters if you can, for the best experience, you won’t regret it. 

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