MARCH 18, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Review
Submitted Photo
Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo and Walker Scobell in The Adam Project.
The Adam Project doesn't make a lot of sense
By TJ REID
For the Keizertimes
More is not always better, especially
when it comes to movies. Bruce the
Jaws shark looks fake? Show him to the
audience less. Your protagonist is going
through some heartbreak? Show that on
their face—don’t have them say “Hey,
guess what, I am going through some
heartbreak” and then launch into an
explanation of why.
In the same vein I find it a bit tiring
how almost every action movie ever has
grandiose stakes that usually include
saving nothing less than humanity
itself. The Adam Project is, partially,
yet another example of this eye-rolling
cliché, but I can forgive it because the
smaller, more personal moments that it
also features work quite well, as does the
comedy and action itself.
The Adam Project is one of those
time-travel movies, and as such it doesn’t
make a whole lot of sense if you stop to
think about it for even a moment. I cer-
tainly didn’t. As soon as Ryan Reynolds
started to say something even remotely
timey-wimey my brain shut off and
I looked at my phone. I don’t think I
really missed much, though; the saving-
the-world-through-time-travel plot was
mostly secondary, instead serving as
the backdrop of the smaller story of a
family learning to heal after great trag-
edy. Newcomer Walter Scobell plays the
twelve-year-old Adam, who is visited by
his future self (Reynolds), and the result-
ing duo is highly entertaining. Not only
is Scobell a dead-ringer for a younger
Ryan Reynolds, but he also nails the same
comedic timing and snarky cleverness
that made his older counterpart famous
(I’m still not entirely convinced Ryan
Reynolds exists and isn’t just Deadpool
in disguise). The supporting cast is also
impressive, featuring big names such as
Jennifer Garner as the mom, Zoe Saldana
as the wife, and Mark Ruffalo as the dad,
and the brief runtime of 1 hour and 46
minutes means that nobody overstays
their welcome.
The fight choreography is also well
done, and the coolness of all the bouts
is greatly boosted by the licensed tunes
that kick in every time the fists start to fly
(how Netflix could afford to license a Led
Zeppelin song when the band members
are notoriously picky over which movies
they are featured in, I have no idea). This
is the only good part of the soundtrack,
unfortunately, as the original tracks
are all highly unoriginal and generic.
Speaking of highly unoriginal and
generic, the futuristic tech showcased
in the film, as well as the overall look, is
that of your typical sci-fi fare with little to
differentiate it from the myriad of other
movies of the same ilk. Compounding
the blandness is poor *****, which I guess
is to be expected and subsequently for-
given for a streaming original. The bad
guys are also kind of just there to be bad
guys. You don’t need to know or care why.
Overall I enjoyed The Adam Project.
Sweet, funny, and exciting, it is the per-
fect example of small scale being the
right scale.
The Adam Project is now available on
Netflix.
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