Project Hail Mary: The Movie Deserves More Than One Viewing

I swear I saw Project Hail Mary in the theater, but after watching it again at home, I can’t believe how much of it I missed.

I just bought the movie from Amazon, which means I can now watch it as many times as I want. And believe me, I will be watching it many times.

There is a lot more going on in this movie than I was able to absorb the first time around. Honestly, going to the theater these days is not always a great experience for me. People coughing, moving around, kicking the back of my seat, crunching popcorn like they are operating heavy machinery - you know the drill. It makes it hard to really focus.

After seeing the movie for a second time, I honestly don’t remember half of it from the theater viewing. That tells me I didn’t really get to experience it properly the first time.

I’ll also be finishing the book again tonight, for the fifth time. I only read about five pages before bed each night, but I keep coming back to it because the story still has a grip on me.

One thing I already know is that I’ll need to watch the movie several more times before I can let it fully stand on its own. That’s hard to do when you know the book so well. There are enough differences between the book and the movie that it can feel a little confusing at first, but in other ways they are almost identical. After visualizing the book in my head so many times, seeing someone else’s visual version of it on screen feels a little strange. Not bad. Just different. A little foreign.

If you have read the book and seen the movie, you probably know exactly what I mean.

I still think it is good to read the book before seeing the movie, because the book fills in so many details that a two-hour-and-thirty-six-minute movie simply cannot include. The book goes deeper. It explains more. It gives you more time with the ideas and the characters.

That said, the movie also adds a few scenes that are not in the book, and that makes the movie feel special in its own way. The book and the movie each have their own strengths. They are both worth experiencing.

What I really appreciate is that Project Hail Mary is a feel-good story with a real ending. I am all thumbs up for that. These movies that end without resolution are for the birds. I watched a good movie last night, but the ending was left unresolved, and I hated that. The writer expects me to come up with my own ending? Sorry, but that feels lazy to me.

So many books and movies leave things open-ended these days, and in my humble opinion, it stinks. It’s like ending a song by just fading it out. A big no-no with today’s generation, and I agree with them.

Any-who, go see the movie.

It may not be for everyone, but I guarantee it will give you things to think about long after it’s over. And best of all, it all gets resolved.

For me, Project Hail Mary is a 10 out of 10!