The movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s first book adaptation of The Martian in 2015 was a smash success and defined the author as someone who could write a survival story in space while preserving scientific concepts and explaining them thoughtfully to the reader. These concepts are definitely continued in this new adaptation of Project Hail Mary, as it really shows that Andy and these filmmakers are only getting better.

From minute one of this movie, it immediately establishes itself as something intense that is committed to also having incredibly humorous moments, and only proves that going further. If you’re expecting a space epic from this movie, you might be finding a road trip movie through deep space as well.

This idea of comedy and goofiness is only made more charming and well done by the early introduction of Rocky, who our main character, Ryland Grace meets almost immediately after waking up on the ship.  Rocky and Ryland’s relationship is instantly apparent to the viewer as they are bonded by their need for companionship, their commitment to save their planets and their love of science.

The explanation and visual storytelling of Ryland and Rocky going through the multiple instances of problem solving and the science behind their decisions is a true breath of fresh air to viewers. Every tense situation taking place shows elements of collaborative thinking and use of scientific methodology creates an amazing distinction between finding solutions, as opposed to just being told them.

Project Hail Mary tells an amazing story up in space and Earth through multiple flashbacks that Ryland periodically lives through as he recovers from his coma. These not only provide exposition and context for the events transpiring throughout the book but adds greater depth and connection to the Ryland and other characters.

While Project Hail Mary does an amazing job, a book to movie adaptation can never be perfect, and often comes with many changes and sacrifices. While the film gracefully covers as much as it can, I would have liked it to cover some of the more interesting aspects of living on Earth while waiting for a solution, and some scenes at least eluding to the actions taken by Eva Stratt, like bombing Antarctica.

Seeing other characters besides Rocky and Ryland developed would have been nice, but I understand that those ideas not being at the core of film meant that those sacrifices had to be made to maintain the film’s 2hr 36m runtime. Cutting or shortening a single scene with Rocky or Grace may have broken my heart anyway. Sophomore Will Truitt said about his experience watching the movie “That movie was absolute cinema, and it had Ryan Gosling!”

I firmly believe that this movie’s connection with its original source material will not only bring people to theaters, but libraries as well.

While Will hasn’t read the original novel he said “I hate reading, but I think that Project Hail Mary would be one of the books worth reading and I think I’d enjoy it.”