The Griffin Editorial: Is "Project Hail Mary" Overrated?

Is the new blockbuster film “Project Hail Mary” overrated? In its opening weekend, “Project Hail Mary” amassed over $80 million in the U.S. alone, and over $60 million internationally, making it the second highest grossing non-franchise-film opening this decade. It sits behind “Oppenheimer,” which made $82 million. 

On top of that, it earned a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.5 on IMDb and is being praised all over social media. Even on Letterboxd, it has an average review rating of 4.4 out of five, and is listed, as I am writing this, the 89th best movie of all-time in Letterboxd’s Top 500 Narrative Feature Films list, and a couple of days ago it was listed at 100. This puts “Project Hail Mary” over highly respected films like “The Silence of the Lambs (123),” "Casablanca (192)” and “2001: A Space Odyssey (222).” 

Frankly, I think it's a bit ridiculous that it’s ranked that high. It’s a good movie, don’t get me wrong. I watched it on the Saturday of the opening weekend at the North Park Theatre, having never read the novel of the same name and very little knowledge of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I’m not going to give too much away, but it’s about a man and an alien rock in space, each trying to save their respective homes. It sounds ridiculous when it’s put like that, and I think the movie does a good job of not taking itself too seriously. If this means anything to you, it was made by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who have directed “The Lego Movie,”  “21 Jump Street” and “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs,” and their balanced comedic style carries over to “Project Hail Mary.” The movie shows off visual prowess with a multitude of colors and striking shapes during the space exploration scenes. It has a great musical score, intense action moments and plenty of lighthearted humor. I walked out of the theatre pleased, for it was an incredible theatre experience, and didn’t have anything to say to bring it down, yet I felt no lasting sense of contemplation that I often do with a movie that deeply moves me.

So, yeah, it might be a little overrated, but there are a lot of factors playing into that. The Academy Awards just happened and people are excited about movies, which might have led to so many people going to see the movie in theatres and giving it such a high rating. Also, recency bias plays into it, but I don’t want to play it down too much because it’s good, just maybe not the 89th best movie of all time. 

If you have seen “Project Hail Mary” and liked it, and might be interested in the movie sub-genre of middle-aged men with a non-human companion in space, then I highly recommend checking out “Moon” and “Spaceman.” Sam Rockwell puts on one of my favorite acting performances in “Moon,” and Adam Sandler delivers his most underrated performance in “Spaceman.” They’re good, check them out.

-ADK