The Adam Project: A Time-Traveling Adventure with a Sentimental Twist
Adam (Walker Scobell), a scrawny and sarcastic kid, is dealing with bullies at school and a lack of understanding from his mom. A year ago, his dad (Mark Ruffalo), a brilliant inventor who theorized about time travel, died in a car accident. One night, Adam stumbles upon a wounded man (Ryan Reynolds) in his dad’s garage. Turns out, it’s Adam from the future, and he needs the boy’s help. Together, they have to evade pursuers, launch a spaceship, and go back to 2018 to connect with their still-alive father and prevent a galaxy-sized disaster.
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Ryan Reynolds seems to have found his Wes Anderson, a director who’ll keep casting him in new projects. Director Shawn Levy is making his second movie with the Canadian star, and there’s news that he’ll also be directing “Deadpool 3.” Their partnership is definitely getting stronger. In “The Adam Project,” Reynolds has even more room to improvise than in “Free Guy,” and the cameras are mostly focused on him. His edgy one-liners and postmodern jokes are the best part of this wild genre ride.
When the Jokes Fade: A Formulaic Story Emerges
But when the focus shifts from Reynolds to the main story, you start to see that the movie is trying to pull a fast one on you. Sci-fi doesn’t have to be completely original, but “The Adam Project” feels too familiar. At first, it’s nostalgic, but by the end, it just feels tiring. A space opera like “Guardians of the Galaxy” is mixed with a sappy story about accepting the past and present. Levy, who’s always been into Hollywood sentimentality, goes overboard here. Even Reynolds forgets how to be funny and starts giving boring speeches about fatherhood and responsibility.
Lost in Time: A Lack of Vision
The main problem with “The Adam Project” isn’t just the tone. You can handle cheesy romance and moralizing in a big studio movie. But for a movie with time travel, spaceships, and explosions, Levy strangely lacks a sense of childlike wonder. At the beginning, it feels like an old-school '80s sci-fi movie (cheap and full of clichés, but still charming). But as the story gets bigger, the director struggles to keep it on track. “Night at the Museum” and “Real Steel,” despite their genre conventions, were simple stories about people. Talks about love, parenting, and loneliness are obviously corny, but a skilled director could have made them touching. In “The Adam Project,” there’s no visual creativity or blockbuster spectacle, just a bunch of scenes with Ryan Reynolds playing another immature adult.