Before getting aboard Project Hail Mary, there is an idea mentioned in the book Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder that I am trying to test for myself.
The idea is that every story ever told belongs to one of the 10 story types mentioned in the book. And by that extension, every movie ever made also fits into one of those ten types.
Now… I have not read all the stories or watched all the movies ever made. So I am having a bit of trouble fully accepting this proposal.
What about stories that have not happened yet? Or stories no one has even thought of yet?
However, that is a discussion for another time.
For now, let’s focus on Project Hail Mary—a movie based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir. And this movie tries to fit into one of those story types from Save the Cat…
Dude with a Problem.
But I personally feel it misses a few key things that make a good “Dude with a Problem” story.
What is Dude with a Problem?
In this story type, our protagonist—a “dude” (or dudine… or even a “thing” like WALL-E)—is an ordinary character who finds themselves in extraordinary circumstances.
To take the example of everyone’s favorite cleaning robot WALL-E: a very ordinary guy/robot suddenly finds himself in space, where he has no business being.
And now this “ordinary” character has to deal with an extraordinary problem or villain (e.g., Auto the computer) using their individuality and sheer will.
To put it simply: An ordinary Joe against an extraordinary foe (or situation).
Now that we have the basics…(Blake Snyder might not be very happy with this oversimplification….Sorry Blake! 🙂 )
Let’s see how Project Hail Mary fits into this—and where it doesn’t.
1. Dude seems ordinary… but he is not
Dr. Ryland Grace is introduced as a simple school teacher. Teaching kids. Living a normal life.
But… he is not that ordinary. He has a PhD. And that’s a big deal.
According to some estimates, only ~0.5% of the world’s population holds a doctorate, rarer than millionaires (~0.8%).
So he is not just “smart”… he is highly qualified.
(Plus, according to Andy Weir, Dr. Ryland Grace has a “beach-bod buff” physique)
In fact, he is perfectly suited to solve the exact problem the movie throws at him.
Yes, we do see him struggle a bit in space initially. Movie tries to balance this by giving him amnesia in the beginning, but even that fades conveniently when needed. He adapts very quickly. Too quickly.
He takes control of a spaceship—almost single-handedly—with no formal astronaut training… in a very short span of time. That’s not ordinary.
So when Rocky asks, “Why is a school teacher in space?”
Well… he is not 🙂
2. Too many problems… solved too quickly
The central problem of the Project Hail Mary is: What is wrong with the sun—and how do we fix it?
Big problem. Massive stakes.
But the movie keeps jumping from one major problem to another… very fast.
I get it. They are trying to compress a 450+ page novel into a ~2–3 hour movie.
But because of that, the scale of the problems starts to feel smaller.
Let me show you what I mean.
Also… spoiler alert!
1st problem: What is wrong with the sun?
Answer in ~5 minutes: some alien microorganism is dimming it
2nd problem: Where is the solution?
Answer in ~5 minutes: Tau Ceti, 11.9 light-years away
3rd problem: How do we get there?
Answer in ~5 minutes: use the same microorganisms as fuel
These are not small problems. These are humanity-ending level problems.
And they get solved… very quickly.
Without really showing the depth of how those solutions were reached.
So it starts to feel like: maybe the problems were not that big after all.
3. Mars vs Tau Ceti
Now compare this with The Martian—also based on a book by the same author.
That is also a “Dude with a Problem” story. And yes, Mark Watney is also not “ordinary.”
He is an astronaut. And a botanist. Which literally helps him grow food on Mars, survive, and “colonize” the planet quiet literally.
(“In your face Elon” — Mark Watney probably)
But despite that, the movie works extremely well.
Why?
Because the problems feel real. They take time. They have setbacks.
We feel the struggle. We see time passing through “sols.” We see his physical decline. We feel isolation.
Now compare that to problems in Tau Ceti in Project Hail Mary.
Years have passed to travel. But we don’t really feel it.
Ryland meets Rocky…
And within what feels like a few minutes, they are communicating fluently.
Compare that to The Martian again—
Where Mark:
- retrieve and revives an old rover
- uses hexadecimal
- slowly builds communication
That process felt earned.
Here… Ryland records some sounds, runs a program…beepity baptiy boop…
And now he can’t make Rocky shut up.
I loved the movie
Now, don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed the movie.
This post is not me saying it is bad. I would give it a solid 2.57 Amaze out of 3.
But I think I expected a bit more. And maybe the book will deliver that.
Just like The Martian—where I watched the movie first, then read the book… and ended up loving the book even more.
(I know, cliché… but still true 🙂 )
I have already ordered the book. It has arrived. And I can’t wait to get lost in it.
What did you think?
Did it feel rushed to you too… or am I overthinking this?
If you want to check out the movie and the book, visit below mentioned links:
If you want to check out why I am reading ‘Save the Cat’ check out this blog.
