They both star Ryan Gosling. They both star Ryan Gosling in space. But which is better? If you’ve watched both of these and you know me and the kind of sci-fi I love, then you’ll probably know the answer. If you don’t, then…you won’t. Read on.
– Does it star Ryan Gosling?
Project Hail Mary: Yes (yay!) First Man: Yes (yay!)
– Is it in space?
Project Hail Mary: Mostly, yes (woo!) First Man: Sometimes, yes (woo!)
– Haven’t you already established these facts in the opening paragraph?
Well, yes, but I wanted to try and get across the fact that First Man is more divided between Earth and space compared to Project Hail Mary.
– Is it based on fiction?
Project Hail Mary: Yes, it’s based on the book by Andy Weir. Lots of people seem to like this book. It’s the same dude who wrote the Martian. Lots of people seem to like that book too. The more you know.
First Man: Nah, it’s based on facts. Cold hard facts. Those cold hard facts being the moon landing of 1969, and the various people who gave their lives in previous efforts to get up there. I guess you could technically say this is based on fiction if you’re one of those conspiracy theorist goobers who thinks that the moon landing was faked, but I’m talking to the lads who’ve got their heads screwed on here. This is based on TRUTH. Perhaps you can’t handle the truth. Perhaps you can.
– Is it about space travel?
Project Hail Mary: Yep, it’s about Ryland Grace, a teacher who’s tasked with saving the world from cooling in the next 30 years by hopping on a rocket and working out how to kill this sun-destroying substance called Astrophage. It’s basically a similar concept to Sunshine, if you’ve seen that. But it’s just Gosling, which is cool with me.
First Man: On the surface, sure. But if you actually think about it, it’s really about a father’s deep, unspoken grief for his dead daughter Karen.
– Is it heavy?
What kind of heavy? Like, the space equipment?
– No fool, I’m asking if it’s emotionally heavy.
Project Hail Mary: Oh. Yeah, it’s got emotional beats here and there. It makes you care about the characters, particularly Grace and his alien buddy Rocky.
First Man: Yeah, defo. Nice and heavy. The connection with Neil Armstrong and his daughter is established early on, and the musical score along with scattered poignant imagery of Karen doesn’t let those feels escape. Plus you feel the loss of the astronauts who don’t make it too.
– What’s the soundtrack like?
Project Hail Mary: Pretty impressive. It definitely helps establish the mood of the film.
First Man: Gorgeous. Outstanding. That theremin? BEA-UTIFUL. Wasn’t expecting a Jim Carey quote to get in here, but there it is.
– And the visuals?
Project Hail Mary: Again, pretty good. Rocky’s design in particular is very inventive.
First Man: Also great. No fancy aliens in this one, but imagery of Goz on the moon is all very crisp, and the whole production feels very sleek.
– Is it dark?
Well…it’s in space?
– Y’know, dark as in heavy.
Didn’t I already answer that with the ‘Is it heavy’ question?
– I suppose, but I’m talking about ‘dark’ in the sense of angst and real emotional pain.
Ok, I get you.
Project Hail Mary: Not really, no. There’s too much comedic stuff going on in between the dialogue for that kind of really heavy sci-fi to hit hard. The film doesn’t really settle on being solely comedic or solely serious.
First Man: Yep, certainly. Grace talks a hell of a lot in Project Hail Mary, but Goz’s Armstrong is a man of few words, and the camera leaves you to decipher his internal pain with plenty of moody close-up shots of his face, with anger conveyed not through shouting but with a crushed glass of wine that’s destroyed by his grip off-camera.
– It sounds like you’re a lot more invested in First Man. Almost as if you’ve wrote about it in a book.
It does sound like that, doesn’t it?
(On a serious note: Ultimately, First Man is the vastly superior winner for me. I get it, Project Hail Mary has received a lot of love for how fun and optimistic it is, and that’s all good. That’s just not the kind of sci-fi I’m generally a fan of. First Man obviously isn’t science fiction in the sense that it’s a retelling of real-life events, but it’s got that nice quiet vibe that I love in classics like Silent Running. It’s good to see people enjoying Project Hail Mary at the cinema. It was pretty packed when I went to see it too. It’s a fun watch, no doubt. It just ain’t the kind of angsty, bleak, stoic Gosling that I really adore. On that note, see: First Man, Blade Runner 2049, Drive and Only God Forgives. There are others too, but those are the big hitters in the angsty stoic Gosling realm. I should know, I’ve written a book about ‘em.)
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Oh, and if you wanted to see more film fights in this series, here are all ten of the lads below: