THE ADAM PROJECT (NETFLIX) (2022)

SYNOPSIS: A time-traveling pilot teams up with his younger self and his late father to come to terms with his past while saving the future. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

Finally, there is a likeable version of Ryan Reynolds onscreen, still wise-cracking but definitely more tolerable than his appearances in Red Notice and Hitman’s Wife Bodyguard. Maybe there’s something to do with his Free Guy’s collaborator, Shawn Levy. After their surprise hit, Reynolds and Levy are back working together in this time-travel comedy from Netflix and Skydance. If you are rushing for time, The Adam Project in short is an updated time-travelling tale yet a heartfelt throwback to family-friendly adventure classic, Back to the Future.

12-year-old Adam Reed (Walker Scobell) is an ordinary snarky teenager who lost his father a year ago, has a loving mother, Ellie (Jennifer Garner) and about to meet his future self, a 40-year-old time pilot (Ryan Reynolds) that has mistakenly crash-landed at his backyard. Forced to enlist the help of his younger self, Reed must travel back to 2018 to destroy time-travel technology before his father’s colleague, evil techpreneur Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) abused the tech and take control over the world. De-aging seems to be the trend with movies nowadays that you have an awkward de-aged version of Keener.

For a movie that runs less than two hours, The Adam Project manages to squeeze in comedy, sci-fi action and family drama into one package without feeling bloated nor unsatisfactory. Maybe Levy is such an old hand in directing wholesome family-friendly comedies that you wouldn’t mind the loopholes in this movie are more visible than wormhole. Despite the potentially promised of a high-concept sci-fi piece, it never rises above the average level of disposable popcorn cinema.

Still, The Adam Project entertains with its Star Wars-inspired action sequences and warms the heart. There’s an army of storm troopers-like soldiers, gigantic spaceships with Adam equipped with a lightsaber weaponry, I mean there’s simply no lack of fun and good old homage. Even Zoe Saldana pops in as Adam’s wife and manages to kick some ass before disappearing altogether until the end. Another Marvel alumni Mark Ruffalo plays Adam’s father, the smart physicist who invented time travel and contributes a few tender also funny moments in the last act. And cue in a Led Zeppelin classic tune as well.

The Adam Project is similar to what Amblin Entertainment used to make in its heydays. Spectacular effects and a tugging father-and-son relationship. Oddly enough, it reminds one of Real Steel, the robot-fighting sci-fi actioner starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Levy. It’s all slick and largely compelling from start to finish.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee