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Movie Reviews
The Adam Project
(Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, et. al | PG-13 | 1 hr 46 min | Netflix)

Overview: The future is here and with it comes an opportunity to control every aspect of time and space. Life in 2050 is no picnic for our hero as he must travel back in the past to search for his missing wife. Searching for answers, he must first find his true self.

Verdict: The Adam Project brings a fresh new look into time travel as this dystopian world is being run by a time tyrant. All the rules fly out of the window when the villain makes exceptions for her to control destiny.

The first act sets the stage for a fun, action packed ride with special effects that are top notch. Adam, (Ryan Reynolds) is on the run trying to reach his missing wife, Laura (Zoe Saldana). Chased by the one in charge of the technology for time travel, Maya (Catherine Keeter), Adam is injured and his ship is damaged as he attempts to reach the year 2018.

Alas, he is unable to make his jump correctly and finds himself face to face with his younger self (Walker Scobell) in 2022. The two Adam’s try bonding, but pain from their father’s death over a year prior makes things rather difficult.

This is where Ryan Reynolds surprises the viewer. Over the years he has been type cast into a single character. Although this is the same with this movie, it showcases his range like few have in the past. His tenderness toward his past counterpart’s mother, (Jennifer Garner) is touching. It definitely tugs at the heartstrings as he tries to tell her his feelings without spilling the beans of time travel.

Regret and pain are all part of this movie as both Adams share feelings they thought they never would tell another soul. For the most part, sarcasm from Reynold’s Adam is met with Scobell’s bratty nature superbly. However, at times it seems forced and could have possibly used another avenue.

The middle act finds both Adam’s being saved by, Laura. As Maya and her minions corner the two of them, explosions rock her world and she finds herself out foxed by a battle-hardened Zoe. Older Adam is surprised and confused but is happy to see that she is alive. Both of them face off against the enemy time soldiers and share a happy moment as they crush all that threatened their reunion.

Alas, this victory only gives them a small opportunity of rest. A heartbreaking moment between Laura and older Adam occurs as husband and wife decide the only way to make things right is for them to destroy time travel at its source, even though it means possibly never seeing each other again.

Once again, Ryan nails his acting, but it’s Zoe that really shines here as they both realize destroying time travel might prevent them from ever being together again.

The third act opens as the two Adam’s make plans for preventing time travel to ever begin. The only problem is that someone might just try and stop them. No, not Maya. Their father, the godfather of time, Louis. Mark Ruffalo does a nice job as the father of our two time travelers. His chemistry with Ryan is fantastic as he tries convincing his sons not to complete their mission.

A small aside needs to be said here, as this is the first movie Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo have been in together since 13 Going on 30 in 2004. You can tell they had fun with the parts they were in together and it almost feels like a sequel.

Before the culmination, older Adam realizes that he mistook his memories and was covering up his pain by reimagining aspects of his childhood. He is able to see through this mistake with the help of his younger self reminding him of what truly happened. With this new knowledge in hand the two get ready for the big showdown.

This chaotic fight scene honestly should have been better. Boston’s “Foreplay/Longtime” began playing in the background and felt way too cheerful for something that could have ended life on a large scale if the time travel generator exploded. The pacing of the fight didn’t quite match with the beat either which further made things awkward.

I won’t spoil the ending for this movie as it really needs to be seen in order to be truly felt. Suffice it to say, all the pain and anger that the Adam’s had following their father’s death just makes it incredible to see how they matured. It showcases more fantastic moments between all three of them and continues onward from there.

Overall, this movie was fun and action-packed, but also had emotional qualities that I have never seen from the likes of Reynolds. There were a couple forced sarcastic moments, but thankfully, it was mostly appropriate to the situation at hand. Walker Scobell was a near perfect choice for the younger Adam, as he exhibited both the sarcastic nature of his counterpart and also could crush some of the more serious aspects of the film.

In closing, this film might not be for everyone as it involves sci-fi and time travel, but in this reviewer’s humble opinion, it is worth checking out. It surprised me and could easily do the same for you.

Review by: John Cicotte





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