Project Hail Mary (2026) Movie Review

Hello everyone and welcome to the concession stand here on the KB Radio Network.

I am your host Kevin Reed and this is the review of Project Hail Mary.

One of my most anticipated movies of

2026 for a number of reasons.

You have...

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who directed this film big fans of theirs they've given us such such classics over the last I would say 20-25 years 25 yeah 25 years the

Lego movie probably with a chance of meatballs just to dip into the animated side along with the Spider-Verse films and live action wise

how can you forget about 21 Jump Street and then you have Ryan Gosling who's in front of the camera as well as behind he also produced this film but Ryan Gosling is one of my faves uh he's one of those actors that is

a movie star but his films aren't like super big blockbusters you know he's in blockbuster films but they don't do particularly blockbuster numbers at

at the box office and it's sad to say because i thought fall guy was pretty good it wasn't great but it was pretty good uh the nice guys i love the nice guys in in countless other films that he's been a part of but

i've been waiting for him to really blow up box office rise to take the mantle as uh one of hollywood's hottest movie stars even though it's kind of ridiculous to say that

being as still as ryan gosling and he's he's ryan gosling he he pops up in everything he uh i think his next film is a star wars movie and so he's not hurting by no stretch but i mean as far as the financial side to show that he can carry a film i

don't know what else he can do he's shown that but the numbers don't show that but this movie was

on my radar because i'm a big science fiction nut i love uh uh space movies movies that deal with space i love isolated movies as well when you have your uh protagonist uh pretty much on his own trying

to figure out how to save either himself or the world or both and this film is that uh in Project Mary,

which is...

based on a novel by

Andy rare.

And if you don't know who he is,

he wrote the Martian as well,

which was also turned into a movie a few years ago that starred Matt Damon.

And it was directed by Ridley Scott and shockingly a good movie because

Ridley Scott has,

it's been hit and miss with Ridley Scott over the last few years.

when it comes to his films and,

He's one of the most prominent filmmakers working,

you know,

up to that point.

But he has had some misses.

But The Martian really knocked it out the park.

And

Andy Rare,

not only responsible for that,

but is responsible for writing a novel for Project Hail Mary,

which has similar tones.

You know,

an astronaut,

per se,

stranded,

has to find a way to survive.

in.

this that and the third so it's very similar but very different at the same time.

Project Hail Mary tells the story of a science teacher named

Raylan Grace,

who is portrayed by Ryan Groslin,

of course,

and he wakes up along on a spaceship light years from Earth.

And as his memory returns,

he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing the sun and save Earth.

An unexpected friendship may be the key.

I love this movie.

This movie was so good.

this is officially the bar for 2026 you have to meet the x you have to meet the standards of project hell mary for the remainder edition now we got a long way to

go of course but as it stands right now this is the bar everything about this movie worked this movie is close to perfection i am holding back holding back with

every ounce of strength that i have to spew out the word masterpiece but it is right there on the cusp this movie just knocked everything out the park i

have never and i'm not being facetious i'm not embellishing in no sense of the word i've been going to the movies watching movies on television

for the better part of 46 years about to be 47 in a couple of days and i have never sat down and fully enjoyed a movie like i did with this where

every aspect of the film worked the comedy and jokes worked i i was laughing

I was literally laughing out loud.

Normally,

if a movie's funny,

it's funny,

you know,

and I'll kind of chuckle under my breath or something,

but I was laughing,

you know,

and for a movie with the tone,

with the stakes as high as it was,

you wouldn't expect it to be as funny,

and if it is,

it would kind of throw off the movie,

like take away some of the tension,

but it doesn't.

It really worked,

and Lord and Miller,

is a master of that,

or they are a master of that.

This was just perfectly done.

The cinematography in this movie,

Greg Foster was the

DP on this film.

If you don't know his filmography,

he did The Batman.

He did

Doom. I believe Doom Part 2.

I'm not 100%

on Doom Part 1,

but he...

He could have done that as well.

But he has an excellent filmography if you go through his resume.

And this was shot so beautifully.

I was blessed to watch this in

IMAX. And

I don't normally promote IMAX like that.

I will just tell you,

go see it any way you can.

But if you can,

if you can spare the extra couple of bucks.

to go see it in IMAX go see this in

IMAX my god this was one of the most beautiful movies to look at visually it was stunning visually stunning

Ryan Gosling gives an Academy Award worthy performance in this film once again I'm not

I'm not just whistling Dixie here

He gives.

Probably his best performance in this movie.

Ryan Gosling,

let me try to put it in perspective here.

You look at a film like

Cast Away with

Tom Hanks,

right?

He had to literally carry that movie by himself.

Why?

Because he was by himself.

You know,

and that's not easy.

That's not easy for an actor to carry a film by they self.

You know,

because you have to be...

emotionally invested not only in that character but what's going on around you and and connect you to the story in the world that's being built here and tom hanks is tom hanks he can do no wrong so you expect that with tom hanks they

asked ryan gosling to do that in this movie for the better part of the book and he did it he did it he brought you through

every range of emotion you could fester in a human being.

But what made the performance unique was he would hit you with these emotional moments when we just got finished hearing these jokes or him trying to break the levity of the situation.

But his emotion was so heavy and he'll just have a tear running down his cheek.

And I found myself like sniffing,

sniffing it in the theater,

you know,

like trying to hold it back.

It was...

that deep of a performance man where this character i believe i believed in this character he is one of the most realistic characters i've seen in a film in a mighty long time he's

a he's a character where you can either look at him and see yourself or look in him look at him and see somebody you know or love and that's that guy that's that person

You're like,

okay,

he's not a hero.

And this film also shows how this character,

even though literally the weight of the world is on his shoulders,

he doesn't want this job.

And this is expressed throughout the entire film.

But in spite of that,

he still tries to get the job done.

You know,

he.

he fights through that fear that he has you know that that anxiety that he has that you know i don't want this responsibility and the fact that i have to do this or try to complete this and knowing what the end results you know what's at the end of this rainbow for you you

know it's not it's not a happy ending but he still has to barter on you know literally being thrown in this situation and

Man,

it was so powerful.

It was so powerful of a character because,

you know,

I started self-reflecting.

And when a movie does that to you,

you can't help but love it.

You know,

when you got to start looking within yourself,

like,

okay,

what would I do in that situation?

We all say we can,

we'll run into the burning building and save somebody or we'll jump in a lake,

even though we can't swim to try to.

pull somebody to safety or whatever but when that situation actually happens to you would you actually freeze because there's a lot of people who will freeze up and it's not like they don't want to do it it's just a mental block you know it's like something

holding you back is that fear you know bravery isn't something you're born with you know the only way you know you're brave if you do something brave you know if you the only way you can find out you're a hero

heroic person if you do something heroic you know you have to throw yourself in that situation and so in this particular situation it's basically what happens to uh our lead character of grace and i man

this movie is two and a half hours long and i could have went two and a half hours more just following him such a power and you needed the right actor for this role

And Ryan Gosling was perfection.

I spoke a little bit about Lord and Miller.

You know what I was thinking throughout this film,

among

500 other things,

while I was just sitting there in pure glee?

What happened on the set of the Han Solo movie that got them fired?

How did they get kicked off of the Han Solo movie?

And that will be one of the I can't wait for that book to come out that tell all to tell us what exactly happened,

because if this is the level of a space movie we were going to get in a solo movie,

we missed out.

And all due respect to Ron Howard,

one of the greats.

But,

man,

I wish Lord and Miller would have got the opportunity to to complete their vision.

with this lord uh with this uh that uh han solo movie because the one we got it was fine but it wasn't nothing to write home tell mom about but man i just got mad i got mad thinking about that i'm

like what how did you how did they drop the ball now granted it could have been a learning experience for maybe they weren't ready for that for prime time at that moment

Because it's been some years since that.

So maybe they learned.

Maybe they revamped some of their methods or how they directed a film and whatnot.

Because,

man,

they directed the piss out of this movie.

how we're supporting character they do have a supporting character and i'm not spoiling anything because it's all in the trailers uh the alien rocky look i thought this was when i first saw the trailer the first trailer and

that that uh alien popped up i was like oh my god where are we going with this you know what kind of what kind of story are they telling here because obviously i didn't read the book and so i

I was a little hesitant with that and how they were going to portray this character or how this character was going to help the story and whatnot.

Oh,

my God.

Great.

That character was great.

It was it was so perfect.

It was so perfect in the way that Ryan Gosling bounced off of this

CGI rock alien creature was.

was just beautiful.

It was one of the most beautiful bromances you'll see on the big screen.

Look,

bro,

short story long,

this movie was perfect.

It was a masterpiece.

I tried to hold it back,

but I can't.

It was a masterpiece.

I've been trying to find a flaw since I left the theater.

And it's been about,

what,

an hour,

two hours since I've been home.

So it's,

I don't know,

I can't find a flaw in this movie.

That's why I'm giving Project Hail Mary the beloved

A+.

This was great.

I am going back to see this again in the theater.

I'm not waiting.

I'm not waiting till it drop on screaming or...

a prime video whatever i'm going to see it again on the big screen because it needs to be watched on the biggest screen possible preferably ibex i'm telling you it i'm telling you it's worth every penny this

was this was beautiful uh the story was beautiful visuals were beautiful the acting was beautiful perfection this is that's like the meme of uh martin scorsese uh

absolute cinema that's that's this this it was perfection but i would love to know what did you think of project hell mary did you like it did you did you did you read the book and what is the book anything like the movie i would love to know i want to know did they make any changes did they take liberties here or there and did the ending change or whatever i would love to know uh what

the book said.

And I guess y'all probably tell me,

well,

read it yourself.

Well,

okay,

I'll read it then.

But I just wanted to know.

But in case you wanted to tell me,

you can e-mail the show,

kbradiopodcasts at gmail.com.

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Everybody,

thank you for joining me for this review of Project Hail

Mary. I want you all to know that I love you.

Continue to love everyone.

And until we speak again,

you all be blessed.

Project Hail Mary (2026) Movie Review

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