One of the best sci-fi movies in years is available to watch right now

'Blends the majesty of Interstellar with the problem-solving satisfaction of The Martian.'

An adaptation of the beloved novel by Andy Weir (The Martian), the film sees Gosling play Ryland Grace, a man who wakes up alone on a spaceship, with no recollection of who he is or how he got there.

Through flashbacks, we learn that on Earth, he was once a former scientist turned high school teacher.

That was until he found himself recruited by the powers that be. This was to uncover the mystery of why the sun is dimming, threatening life on Earth, and to find a solution to prevent the star from dying out altogether.

Project Hail Mary is a near-perfect blockbuster and genuine crowdpleaser.

Working from Weir's novel, the screenplay by Drew Goddard (Bad Times at the El Royale, The Cabin in the Woods) is ingenious in how it communicates dense and heady scientific concepts to audiences in a way that is fun and understandable, without feeling dumbed down.

Like the book, the script flashes back and forth in time between Ryland on the spaceship and his life on Earth. Through this, Goddard builds a genuinely compelling mystery: How did this decent, humble, ordinary, but clearly fearful and unheroic scientist and teacher wind up on what is presumed to be a suicide mission into outer space? As Ryland himself says, he puts the "not" in "astronaut".

As for this point, all we'll say is that this time-shuffling structure pays off brilliantly in the movie's highly emotional third act.

Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, Across the Spider-Verse) layer in their now trademark blend of humour and humanity. The pair never miss a chance to add in jokes and flesh out characters and relationships.

Ryland actually does feel like a true underdog to root for, because of Gosling's winning turn. This is all the more impressive, given that large stretches of the film are him alone on a spaceship or him in conversation with a strange alien without a face made from rock (puppeted and voiced by James Ortiz).

Ryland later dubs this creature 'Rocky'. Like Ryland, the creature is a lone traveller seeking to save his home planet from the same problem that Earth is facing.

The scientist establishes a way to communicate with Rocky through technology, with the pair agreeing to work together to form a solution. Ryland even bonds with the alien by showing him all the best things that Earth has to offer, including the Sylvester Stallone classic Rocky.

It's a testament to Gosling's charisma and the behind-the-scenes artists on Project Hail Mary that by the end of the sci-fi, you come away not just loving Ryland, but Rocky too.

The fantastic Sandra Hüller

Sure, it's not all perfect. At 156 minutes, the film does feel long, with Goddard maybe setting up too many conflicts that need to be resolved. This results in a slight feeling of bagginess as the story nears its climax.

At the same time, one mystery - involving characters played by Ken Leung (Industry) and Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us) - is left curiously unresolved.

Yet, these niggling issues do little to detract from the pleasures of such an enjoyable blockbuster, and a sci-fi that feels like an instant classic of the genre.

Project Hail Mary is available to watch in cinemas on St Patrick's Day before going on general release in theatres on Thursday, 19 March.