Project Hail Mary is nearly upon us, as the first “big” movie of the year. Is it also the first really good movie of the year?
There is plenty of buzz around it, and the trailers were warmly received even by the most cynical Outposters.
So now it is the business end of things, as next week’s release draws near, what do critics have to say about it all.
Well, the word is good. At the time of writing there are 102 reviews counted at Rotten Tomatoes and it is sitting at 96% and climbing.
78/100 on Metacritic also bodes well from that most picky of review aggregators.
Particular praise seems to focus on Gosling himself, and the genuine warmth of the whole thing. Criticism is focussed on the familiarity of some tropes.
It’s PG13 and over 2.5 hours long. Here is what the summary pages on the aggregators have to say:
“A stirring celebration of bravery, camaraderie, and human ingenuity that goes big in every respect, not least of which by recognizing and foregrounding the majesty of larger-than-life movie stardom.”
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
“Project Hail Mary is a movie that believes it’s possible to save the world. It dares to hope. And that’s more beautiful than all the stars in the sky.”
Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
“With Gosling and Hüller to the fore, Lord and Miller have delivered a cosmic adventure with hope in its heart and a twinkle in its eye. It’s the science-fiction blockbuster we need in these fractious times.”
Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
“It goes, in other words, where plenty of men have gone before. The good news, again, is that the film moves so impressively fast that you won’t mind much of anything.”
Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
“Even if Project Hail Mary at times leans into the sentiment to an almost saccharine degree, the movie’s natural sweetness is disarming. And it’s impossible to imagine an actor more adept at striking that tricky balance than Gosling.”
David Rooney, THR
“The tonal balance between life-and-death stakes and buddy-comedy bonding is sometimes wobbly, but Ryan Gosling gives an open-hearted performance as our planet’s unlikely saviour.”
Tim Grierson, Screen
It is not all complete love, though. Some remain grumpy:
“Project Hail Mary wants to be the kind of “great escape we need right now,” and I have no doubt that many will hail it as one. So forgive me if I say that it’s not a very good movie.”
Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Project Hail Mary arrives in cinemas on March 20th.
