The Movie Guru: ‘Project Hail Mary’ wonderful, but ‘Ready or Not 2’ stumbles

Project Hail Mary (in theaters)

It’s “E.T.” if the main characters were adults and both planets were in danger. 

I mean that as a compliment. “Project Hail Mary” is wonderful, a beautiful celebration of friendship, science, and making movies without green screens. It’s also one of the most faithful novel adaptations I’ve ever seen, making Andy Weir’s 2021 novel fantastically cinematic without damaging it in any way. Add in excellent performances by both Ryan Gosling and James Ortiz, and you get the kind of movie that makes you fall in love with stories, movies and space in general.

The movie starts with a man (Gosling) who wakes up on a spaceship without any memories of how he got there. Those slowly filter back over the course of the movie, but those are only background to meeting a friendly alien (voiced by Ortiz) and figuring out how to communicate. It turns out both their worlds are in trouble, and they’re the only people who can save the day. 

The ship is an actual set, along with the tunnel, and there’s a wonderful physicality to it that makes the entire movie feel more real. It also adds to the big dramatic moments, and overall just ends up looking really cool. 

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Ortiz’s character is basically a rock spider with no eyes, and it almost seems designed to give as few emotional signals as possible. But the puppetry conveys a wonderful amount of personality, and combined with the voice work Rocky feels just as nuanced and alive as E.T. He’s also quite funny, like Gosling’s Ryland, and their friendship is buoyed along by a wonderful sense of humor. 

All together, it’s the kind of movie that stays in the memory for a long time. 

Grade: Three and a half stars

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (in theaters)

When you tell the same story all over again, it’s never quite as magical the second time around. 

That’s tragically the case with “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” the sequel to the 2019 hit. It does have plenty of violence and some fun moments, but the cleverness and freshness that fueled the original feels absent. It’s too big, too similar, and blows the original’s almost-funny tone with a violent moment that feels ugly rather than cartoonish. The additions are a mixed bag, with some being entertaining while others are merely tedious. It’s more mayhem, but that doesn’t mean it’s better. 

The movie starts almost immediately after the last one ends, though since it’s been seven years it does give you a refresher on the original. Grace (Samara Weaving) survived being hunted down by the rich Devil worshippers who were also her new in-laws, but the danger isn’t over. There are even more rich, powerful, Satanic families who want her dead, because if she survives she could end up running the world. Of course, she also has to save her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) as well. 

Weaving is as excellent as she was in the original, and Newton has already proven her mastery of comedic horror. They’re fun to watch, but their relationship isn’t terribly well-written. It would have been more interesting to bring her in another way, like as another successful survivor in contention for the prize. Shawn Hatosy is almost too terrifying, scarier than the tone can handle, while Elijah Wood is fun but merely serves as backstory filler.

Grade: Two stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society and the Utah Film Critics Association. Drop her a line at themovieguruslc@gmail.com.