Following the success of IP-friendly videogame film Free Guy, director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds have reteamed for a more downbeat sci-fi drama, which deals with that core pillar of American blockbuster filmmaking: Daddy Issues.<\/p>\n
On the surface though, The Adam Project<\/a> is pure time-travel fluff, Terminator meets Green Lantern by way of Stranger Things. The basic pitch is that Reynolds plays a futuristic pilot who travels back in time to his past (which is our present, roughly) to stop his father (Mark Ruffalo) from inventing time travel and dooming the world.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, he miscalculates and ends up crashing into the back yard of his younger self (Walker Scobell). Now, he has to team up with Young Adam to avoid detection by some one-note baddies, track down his missing wife Laura (Zoe Saldana) and save the future. All in a day\u2019s (or, around 106 minutes\u2019) work.<\/p> In many ways, the film stands in sharp contrast to Levy and Reynolds\u2019 last collaboration. While he\u2019s as buff and wisecracking as ever, Reynolds\u2019 character in this film feels considerably more beaten-down than usual, and while the stakes are high the action doesn\u2019t move far from the rural, forested small town where Adam grew up.<\/p>\n While Free Guy was a fairly sprawling story, this movie feels small and sparse, even with an all-star cast that includes Jennifer Garner and Catherine Keener alongside Saldana, Ruffalo and Reynolds. Still, perhaps there\u2019s a reason for this. Whether by chance or for COVID-compliant production reasons, characters stay in relatively small, closed groups during the film, with key figures not interacting despite the obvious storytelling potential.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to discuss without giving away too much of the story, but I was struck regularly by how strange and closed-off different acts of this film felt, and it contributes to an overall thinness in the world it creates. How does a story with so much action and so many big actors still feel so underpowered?<\/p>\n In fairness, this may be because the main focus of the film lies elsewhere. And that is as follows: Ryan Reynolds teams up with a 12-year-old version of his sarcastic public persona, and both of them confront their issues with lovely absent father Mark Ruffalo. And to their credit, this element of the film is probably the strongest.<\/p>\n Scobell and Reynolds make for an appealing duo, and it feels plausible that the dweeby but cocky Young Adam could actually turn into his older self (unlike a similar dynamic in recent superhero movie Shazam! \u2013 a great film, but the older and younger actors felt like they had completely different personalities).<\/p>\n Ruffalo is also game as a dream dad who\u2019s slightly spikier than you\u2019d expect, especially when dealing with the bitterness of Reynolds\u2019 older Adam. Elsewhere, Saldana and Garner do their best but don\u2019t have much screentime to work with before they zap away from the story.<\/p>\n The villains are fairly moustache-twirling and one-note, and the goons are literally faceless and disposable (they rarely if ever remove their masks, and die in a gore-free puff of glitter for time-travel reasons).<\/p>\n The biggest clanger in the casting comes when an important character is digitally de-aged, and it\u2019s so obvious and awkward that it massively detracts from every scene they\u2019re in. This technology might have come on in leaps and bounds, but there\u2019s clearly still a way to go before it\u2019s seamless. In this film, it\u2019s positively seamy.<\/p>\n Overall, The Adam Project delivers what you\u2019d expect from its trailers and general vibe. Reynolds makes some wisecracks and pop culture references, people shoot ray guns, someone does a cool car chase, barrel rolls a jet or fights with off-brand lightsabers, and by the end we all learn that maybe the only real time travel is the family we make along the way (or something).<\/p>\n It\u2019s perfectly serviceable fare that will distract you from the world for an hour and 45 minutes. And really, what else is Netflix for?<\/p>\n The Adam project streams on Netflix from Friday 11th March. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi<\/a> page or our full TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Huw Fullerton Published: Thursday, 10 March 2022 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating Following the success of IP-friendly videogame film Free Guy, director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds have reteamed for a more downbeat sci-fi drama, which deals with that core pillar of American blockbuster filmmaking: Daddy Issues. 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