The Adam Project: Film Review
It feels like we’ve seen a lot of Ryan Reynolds and his shtick recently – and we get an extra double dose of it in Netflix’s new sci-fi adventure The Adam Project.
The film begins in 2050, with time-travelling fighter pilot Adam Reed (Reynolds) under attack. He is planning to jump to 2018 to hopefully find his missing wife Laura (Zoe Saldana) but he accidentally crash-lands in 2022. He is discovered by his 12-year-old self (played by Walker Scobell) and they work together to take down Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener), the woman abusing their late father Louis’ (Mark Ruffalo) time-travel technology.
I really struggled to write that summary because The Adam Project is actually quite tricky to follow. It’s best to just switch your brain off and enjoy the spectacle rather than analyse the plot too hard. The time travel aspect is underexplained and that’s because it makes no goddamn sense. So, take my advice and don’t try to understand it because it defies logic and will ruin your enjoyment of the film.
Shawn Levy has crafted an old school action-adventure that feels ripped straight out of the ’80s. Although the plot is thinly written, there are some fantastic lines of dialogue, it’s very funny and there are some cool action sequences (particularly the first time Reynolds uses his lightsaber-style weapon).
The star of the show is newcomer Scobell, who has to mirror Reynolds’ motormouth line delivery, deadpan sarcasm and witty tone. They do the same shtick but Scobell’s version feels more endearing and cheeky whereas Reynolds’ signature acting style has been overdone and feels more annoying and cocky. Therefore, he is easily outshone by his younger counterpart. They have great chemistry and bounce off each other to comedic effect. Adding Ruffalo into the mix later on worked well too and they made an awesome trio.
Although it is mostly a lightweight and entertaining caper, The Adam Project was also surprisingly moving in places. In particular, the ending hit me in the feels and that was largely down the Ruffalo’s sensitive work. I also felt a lot of sympathy for Jennifer Garner (who is deeply underused) as Adam’s mother, who is dealing with her own grief as well as her son’s. Saldana has a small role in which she makes use of her action skills and Keener gives a one-note performance as the evil Maya. Her motives weren’t clear at all so she was quite a weak villain.
Although the plot is illogical, The Adam Project is a lot of old-fashioned feel-good fun with a ton of hilarious moments and an amazing soundtrack.
On Netflix from Friday 11th March