What is Chris Lord and Phil Miller’s Last Chance Project worth? (critical)

Ryan Gosling in weightlessness in a fun and (too) well-calibrated blockbuster, signed by the duo of directors of Storm of Giant Meatballs and The Great Lego Adventure

The device is known. A guy wakes up in a ship, his memory in pieces. He is alone. And gradually, he understands: he has a mission. Save the earth or even – and why not? – the universe. In Project Last Chance, it is Ryan Gosling who floats light years away. Rest assured, it remains firmly anchored to what Hollywood does best: great, clever, calibrated and immediately very attractive spectacle. From the opening, the film imposes its high concept: Gosling is a science teacher with amnesia. He is taken on a suicide mission. And the sun is setting. It’s the kind of pitch that smells like IMAX and popcorn. In fact, it works very quickly. It’s rhythmic, funny, and often ingenious. And driven by the Lord and Miller tandem it is a perfectly oiled entertainment machine; typically the kind of thing that Hollywood doesn’t offer us enough these days.

The real discovery is the improbable dynamic between man and the extra-terrestrial (a rock renamed Rocky). When the side-kick arrives, the film shifts into a sort of cosmic buddy movie, carried by an ultra-charismatic Gosling. He is so swag that it makes his relationship with the bizarre creature touching. There, clearly, the film takes off. We laugh, we become attached, and against all odds, emotion arises. Like Alone on Mars, the story then links scientific problems and brilliant solutions; all with playful fluidity. It’s dense, but not dry. Serious, but always approachable.

It should be irrepressible. Yet beneath the flawless surface, something resists. The film sometimes gives the impression of knowing too well what it is. And by ticking all the boxes, especially by precision, we end up bordering on artificiality. Moreover, the narrative mechanism ends up being seen. Problem, tension, resolution. Present, past, solution. The loop is effective, but repeated ad aeternam, it becomes predictable and boring. The suspense is slightly blunted, as if the film really refused to put itself in danger. Same thing for the main character: introduced as a fragile, almost outdated scientist, he gradually slides towards a more classic, less ambivalent, and more heroic figure. The character’s diffuse misanthropy, his selfish relationship with the world, this way of always being slightly off or even in refusal – it’s all there, but on the surface. We can see faults, gray areas, things that could disrupt the trajectory. But the film refuses to dig into them, preferring to smooth rather than crack.

It remains a spectacular film (the action sequence in orbit is phenomenal), often funny, and driven by a real desire to mix hard science and blockbuster. Project Last Chance seduces effortlessly, but still leaves the impression of a perfectly executed program.

By Phil Lord and Chris Miller. With Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub… Duration: 2h37. Released March 18, 2026