Overview

I read the Project Hail Mary back in 2021, when the book original came out and watched the movie adaptation in theaters on opening weekend. I want to capture my overall impressions of the movie, what I took away after reading the book and how I feel after watching the movie.

Book

A major component of the book for me is actually experiencing how the protagonist, Ryland Grace, pieces together why he woke up on a space ship by himself. All the while, he's also trying to remember who he is and trying to recall any memories that might tell him what his strengths are. Watching Grace connect with his true self and find friendship in the unlikeliest of places: in the depths of "infinite" space!

Movie

I am astonished by Ryan Reynolds performance in this movie. I haven't been the biggest fan of him as an actor; I've found him one-dimensional actor who tends to be the same actor in the same types of movies. The "funny" sarcastic type, who really only appeals to a certain type of humor. I loved Ryan Reynolds in Project Hail Mary, his rendition of Ryland Grace was so well done. He was able to channel the character in such a pure sense for me.

Another major component of the movie is the all too loveable Rocky. I'd like to give #kudos to the CGI team as they did a great job of giving Rocky life from a sort of vague description of his appereance. Not only that, they were able to give him personality by utilizing empathic body expressions which are communicated very clearly. In a way, the movie creaters made sure to showcase a lot of information' about each character on their initial meeting; their background, their intelligence and resourcefulness that carries out through the movie.

The flashback scenes for discovering Ryland Grace's history and how he ended up on the ship were also incredibly well done. They casted Strickland with incredible accuracy, at least in the way I imagined her.

Overall, the movie adaptation was incredible and fired on all cylinders for the entire 2 hours and 30 minutes.