The Adam Project Movie Review: Ryan Reynolds’ Dramatic Turn Is Refreshing in Shawn Levy’s Tonally Inconsistent Sci-Fi Netflix Film (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Adam Project Movie Review: The Adam Project is what happens when you love Back to the Future, The Terminator and Looper, and decide to make a film that aspires to be all the three but has the depth of none. And after Avengers: Endgame, you once again have Mark Ruffalo trying to get into explaining time travel dynamics, and then changing his own rules about it. After the enjoyable Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy team up for Netflix with this sci-fi entertainer, that takes a more serious route in storytelling. The result comes across as somewhat inconsistent, with the film balancing a zany plotline with a predictable screenplay and some emotional family drama. OTT Releases Of The Week: Dhanush's Maaran on Disney+ Hotstar, Ryan Reynolds' The Adam Project on Netflix, Sunny Leone's Anamika on MX Player & More.

Adam (Walker Scobell) is a 12yo, who is still not over the death of his father Louis (Mark Ruffalo) a few months back, and is having trouble at school with bullies. He somewhat resents his mother Ellie (Jennifer Garner), who is trying her best to move on from her husband's absence and be there for her son. One night, Adam comes across an injured man in his outhouse, who knows his way around the house very well.

Of course, as you know, this man is Adam himself (Ryan Reynolds) from 2050 where Time Travel is possible, but unrecommended. He wanted to go to 2018 to save his wife Laura (Zoe Saldana), but accidentally lands in 2022, thereby meeting the young Adam. Now both these Adam's try to go to 2018 to find out what happened to Laura and meet their father, then alive, whose studies resulted in making Time Travel possible, while bickering all the way along.

Watch the Trailer:

Ryan Reynolds has often been playing this wackier take on his one self in his most successful movies, which of course has been getting repetitive, something I pointed out in my review of Red Notice (also on Netflix). Perhaps, the actor has heard out the criticisms and has dialled down the comical energy of his performance, to deliver a more emotional one in The Adam Project. His dramatic turn is one of the more appealing aspects of the film, that makes us care of why Adam feels so broken down, and why he is desperate to save Laura by breaking protocols for the writing isn't that strong in those portions. I loved his performance in the scene with where he chats with his mother at the bar.

As the young Adam, Walker Scobell is quite good reflecting Reynolds' wackiness, even stealing scenes from his adult co-star. Mark Ruffalo leaves an impact in the third act. Zoe Saldana scores in all the scenes she is in. Jennifer Garner is good, even if she is stuck in the grieving widow trope. Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo Express Support for Ukraine.

As for the movie itself, The Adam Project staggers along its way fighting plentiful of inconsistencies and tonal issues. The idea of having a man meet his precocious pre-teen self is gold comic material, but the movie pulls back to let them deal with the issues of parental loss, bullying and abandonment. Which is not a bad way to go, as The Adam Project works best in the dramatic moments. It's when it tries to go funny with the Adams' bickering is where the movie loses momentum, especially when it comes on the heels of a dramatic momentum.

Like for example, the severity of the death of a major character is underlined by a little comedy scene that follows of young Adam struggling to cope with adult Adam's flying (which raises another question as to how a little kid manages to cope with the flight's supersonic speeds). Okay, we know that this dead character would return later in some form, but at least make the scene feel for the character. We know that all the heroes who got dusted in Avengers: Infinity War would return by the next installment, but at least the movie left a punchy impact with their 'deaths'. Something that should have been tried out here.

The third act that goes bombastic with CGI is effectively weak with borrowed elements from other movies. However, the final scene between Louis and both the Adams manage to touch a chord with you.

Yay!

- Ryan Reynolds' Dramatic Turn

- The Performances of the Cast

- Storyline has Potential

Nay!

- Offers Nothing New with Its Sci-Fi Elements

- A Weak Third Act

- Logic and Tonal Inconsistencies

Final Thoughts

The Adam Project makes for a one-time watch with some likeable performances, but let down by its inconsistent storytelling and tonalities. It will stream on Netflix from March 11.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 10, 2022 12:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).