PREMISE
A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance from killing Earth’s sun, and discovers that an unexpected friendship may be the key.
THE GOOD STUFF
GOSLING- You know, in all of these conversations that I tend to have about what a movie star really is in 2026, people are so hesitant to put RYAN GOSLING in that category, even going as far as hinting that the man is overrated because he’s had so many high-profile things in a row. Folks, his last five major theatrical releases were la la land, Fall Guy, blade runner 2049, THE nice guys and barbie. At some point, the resume has to speak for itself, and people have to calm down.
This is the kind of movie that celebrates all of his strengths. Gosling has always had the magic to display high-level comedic energy and absolute raw vulnerability. The best movies he’s in are the ones where he gets to display that, on numerous occasions, like this one. There is a scene in this film where the character Rocky is, let’s say, sleeping. It is in that short stretch of film that we see all the things Gosling is really good at.
Considering his resume, I’m not going to go so far as to say that this is a top-five performance from him… But it is close.
EVERYTHING ROCKY- From the origins of the name, to the character design, to the backstory, to the voice-over performance, everything involving this particular character is ingenious. This is the character that is supposed to set this film apart from the numerous other space odysseys we’ve come across over the years, and it is a grand slam. This is a world-class Grand slam voice over performance from James Ortiz who should get all the praise in the world for what he does here.
Rocky, as a character, is just so charmingly childlike and enthusiastic all at once that if done incorrectly, would be a Jar Jar Binks kind of a presence in this film. Thankfully, that is not done here. I don’t think people truly realize the power of a great voice-over performance, and James Ortiz needs to be a name we come to know much more in the coming years.
STORYLINES- I think it is here where Lord and Miller really shine in terms of their directorial efforts. One half of this movie (set in the past) reminds me a lot of the highly underrated 2000 film SPACE COWBOYS with Clint Eastwood. Bright colors and heavy comedic undertones, a lot of compelling space talk about the upcoming mission with scientists, astronauts, and the like. The other half of this movie (in the present) reminded me of the first 30 minutes (the George Clooney section) of gravity back in 2013. Lord and Miller seemed to be inspired by many space films in the making of this, and it shows. But it seems they were inspired by all the good stuff, not the bad.
THE BAD STUFF
PACING- Whenever the movie goes past the two-and-a-half-hour mark, we have to talk about pacing. There must be conversations about what filmmakers could have done to shorten their films. I now understand that this is a very popular book that’s been adapted, and it’s very faithful to the book, except for a few things. In that, I understand why this film is so long.
That said, this story structure didn’t have to be so faithful to the book to be an effective film. This is a film that intercuts past and present events, and, in doing so, kind of upends its own momentum a couple of times throughout the film. I understand that the book does this, and its fans are very happy about it. But this movie really could have benefited from a straight chronological order. Just tell the past stuff concurrently until the present stuff concurrently. I personally failed to find the symbolism between the past events they showed and the present events they showed right after. This is not really messy or anything like that. But I did find it annoying as the present events got more intense, while the past events were not as intense.
THE UGLY STUFF
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I do think you can start acknowledging Lord and Miller as a filmmaking duo that gets the job done whenever they step up to the plate. Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs, the Lego movie, the Jump Street films, and this. When it comes to directorial efforts, they have literally never missed.
Their respect is long overdue.
PROJECT HAIL MARY is in theaters now
