They both star Ryan Gosling. They both star Ryan Gosling in space. But which is better? If you\u2019ve watched both of these and you know me and the kind of sci-fi I love, then you\u2019ll probably know the answer. If you don\u2019t, then\u2026you won\u2019t. Read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
– Does it star Ryan Gosling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Yes (yay!) First Man: Yes (yay!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Is it in space?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Mostly, yes (woo!) First Man: Sometimes, yes (woo!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Haven\u2019t you already established these facts in the opening paragraph?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Is it based on fiction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Yes, it\u2019s based on the book by Andy Weir. Lots of people seem to like this book. It\u2019s the same dude who wrote the Martian. Lots of people seem to like that book too. The more you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Man: Nah, it\u2019s 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\u2019re one of those conspiracy theorist goobers who thinks that the moon landing was faked, but I\u2019m talking to the lads who\u2019ve got their heads screwed on here. This is based on TRUTH. Perhaps you can\u2019t handle the truth. Perhaps you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Is it about space travel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Yep, it\u2019s about Ryland Grace, a teacher who\u2019s 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\u2019s basically a similar concept to Sunshine, if you\u2019ve seen that. But it\u2019s just Gosling, which is cool with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Man: On the surface, sure. But if you actually think about it, it\u2019s really about a father\u2019s deep, unspoken grief for his dead daughter Karen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Is it heavy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What kind of heavy? Like, the space equipment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– No fool, I\u2019m asking if it\u2019s emotionally heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Oh. Yeah, it\u2019s got emotional beats here and there. It makes you care about the characters, particularly Grace and his alien buddy Rocky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t let those feels escape. Plus you feel the loss of the astronauts who don\u2019t make it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– What\u2019s the soundtrack like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Pretty impressive. It definitely helps establish the mood of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Man: Gorgeous. Outstanding. That theremin? BEA-UTIFUL. Wasn\u2019t expecting a Jim Carey quote to get in here, but there it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– And the visuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Again, pretty good. Rocky\u2019s design in particular is very inventive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Is it dark?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well\u2026it\u2019s in space?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Y\u2019know, dark as in heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Didn\u2019t I already answer that with the \u2018Is it heavy\u2019 question?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– I suppose, but I\u2019m talking about \u2018dark\u2019 in the sense of angst and real emotional pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ok, I get you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Hail Mary: Not really, no. There\u2019s too much comedic stuff going on in between the dialogue for that kind of really heavy sci-fi to hit hard. The film doesn\u2019t really settle on being solely comedic or solely serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Man: Yep, certainly. Grace talks a hell of a lot in Project Hail Mary, but Goz\u2019s 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\u2019s destroyed by his grip off-camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– It sounds like you\u2019re a lot more invested in First Man. Almost as if you\u2019ve wrote about it in a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It does sound like that, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(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\u2019s all good. That\u2019s just not the kind of sci-fi I\u2019m 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\u2019s good to see people enjoying Project Hail Mary at the cinema. It was pretty packed when I went to see it too. It\u2019s a fun watch, no doubt. It just ain\u2019t 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\u2019ve written a book about \u2018em.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u22c6\u207a\u208a\u22c6 \u263e\u22c6\u207a\u208a\u22c6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, and if you wanted to see more film fights in this series, here are all ten of the lads below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n