What happens when you take the exact formula of The Martian—a lonely guy using hard science to survive in space—but replace the ultimate, confident astronaut with a terrified middle school teacher who was literally dragged onto the spaceship against his will? Well, you get Project Hail Mary.

But while this film is a massive, $680 million blockbuster hit, it leaves us with one massive question: Can Ryan Gosling actually pull off the same isolated, witty charm that Matt Damon perfected a decade ago? Let’s talk about why this movie feels so familiar, yet psychologically completely different.

Let’s address the elephant in the theater: the ghost of Mark Watney. Back in 2015, Matt Damon gave us the ultimate masterclass in ‘competence porn.’ He was grounded, gritty, and naturally witty. When Damon’s Watney said he was going to ‘science the sh*t out of this,’ you believed him. Ryan Gosling, playing our new protagonist Dr. Ryland Grace, tries to capture that exact same energy. But the performance lands in a very different psychological space. Gosling leans heavily into his trademark boyish, slightly goofy charm. He’s funny, yes, but it feels more like ‘puppyish silliness’ than the hardened, edge-of-your-seat survivalist grit we saw on Mars. It’s not bad acting—not by a long shot—but Gosling’s Ryland Grace occasionally feels a bit too unruffled, a bit too light-hearted given that the entire human race is on the brink of extinction. It makes the high stakes feel, at times, surprisingly casual.

But here is where the film’s screenplay—written by the brilliant Drew Goddard—saves it from being a cheap imitation. Goddard, who also adapted The Martian and created Netflix’s Daredevil, understands how to ground high-concept sci-fi in deep human emotion. And the psychological key to Project Hail Mary is that Ryland Grace is not a hero. He didn’t volunteer for this. In fact, he’s a disgraced molecular biologist turned middle school science teacher who woke up with amnesia. As his memories slowly piece themselves back together, we get a devastating psychological twist: he was coerced and forced into this suicide mission by global commander Eva Stratt, played with a brilliant, cold precision by Sandra Hüller. This dynamic changes the entire tone of the movie’s humor. Grace isn’t cracking jokes because he’s a brave, confident astronaut; he’s cracking jokes because he is absolutely terrified and completely out of his depth. It’s the humor of panic, and Drew Goddard translates that unwilling hero energy beautifully.

Even with Goddard’s sharp writing, the first act of the film might leave you feeling a bit fatigued. It’s a lot of a lonely white guy in a spaceship doing math. But right when you think you’re watching ‘The Martian 2.0,’ the movie pulls its greatest trick. It introduces Rocky. Rocky is a five-legged, rock-based alien engineer from a dying star system, brought to life on set with incredible practical puppetry. The moment Rocky climbs into the frame, the entire psychological landscape of the film shifts. It stops being a lonely survival story and transforms into a heartwarming, fast-paced space-buddy comedy. The connection between Grace and Rocky is genuinely moving. It proves that isolation isn’t just about surviving physical elements; it’s about the psychological need for connection. This wholesome, ‘E.T.-meets-Wall-E’ friendship is what prevents the movie from feeling like a total retread and elevates it into something incredibly entertaining.

At the end of the day, Project Hail Mary doesn’t quite capture the lightning-in-a-bottle perfection of The Martian. Ryan Gosling’s charm is undeniable, even if he doesn’t quite ground the survivalist tension the way Matt Damon did. But thanks to Drew Goddard’s brilliant screenplay, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s stylized, energetic direction, and a giant, lovable alien spider named Rocky, the movie manages to be its own unique, highly entertaining beast. It reminds us that sometimes, you don’t need to be a fearless hero to save the world. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of science, a lot of luck, and a really good friend from another star system. What did you think of Gosling’s performance compared to Damon’s? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more deep dives into your favorite films. See you next time!