I’m sure I’m not the only one who is at least curious when they discover that a movie includes time travel. It is not that it is a guarantee of anything, but it is a very powerful plot device that has served as the basis for amazing titles. The newest addition to that subgenre of Science fiction by Netflix is ’The Adam Project’.
Directed by shawn levy and starring Ryan Reynoldssame artistic duo behind the highly enjoyable ‘Free Guy,’ ‘The Adam Project’ premieres on Netflix this Friday, March 11. In it you will find a proposal that wants to make a curious two for one mixing the great science fiction show with the youthful adventure. The result ends up entertaining despite its obvious limitations.
Simplifying a great starting point
The premise of ‘The Adam Project’ is the most striking, since Reynolds plays a pilot (the Adam of the title) who travels back in time to prevent a dark future for humanity, something that leads him to ask himself for help, but when he was just 12 years old. One of those high concept with which to quickly catch the viewer, but then the development may not be to your liking.
The first thing to make clear about ‘The Adam Project’ is that you can forget about any kind of ambition when developing that premise, since the objective here is to carry out a great hobby for the whole family. To do this, it is committed to an approach in which the action has an important presence, but those responsible are clear that it is through emotion that they are going to conquer millions of viewers.
and that all the theme of time travel is of vital importance in the plot of the film and is not a mere pretext to achieve that stimulating starting point. However, all this ends up reduced to some pseudo-scientific notes with which to quickly get out of the way when they have no other choice but to clarify a little how it is possible that time travel exists.
More important are the characters, not so much because they have a particularly successful development as because of the dynamic that arises between the two, especially between Reynolds and Walker Scobell, the unknown actor who gives life to the young version of the protagonist. The chemistry between the two flows naturally and ends up becoming the great constant of ‘The Adam Project’.
Around him we will find mainly complementary characters. There will be those who will be left with the feeling that performers like Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner -The fans of these last two will surely appreciate seeing them together again 18 years after ‘The Dream of My Life- or Zoe Saldana They could have given so much more, but this is the story of Adam and how he joins forces with himself to save the world. It is enough that Reynolds does not monopolize the absolute protagonism, and also that he shows a somewhat more restrained face, more typical of a conventional hero than the actor behind Deadpool.
An unbalanced 2×1
And it is that, with the exception of the villains, the other characters are there to reinforce the more emotional component, whether insisting on family ties or love as motivation to face an almost impossible mission. The script of the film uses them more as a mood boost than to give them some kind of entity of their own, although it is fair to point out that Ruffalo is the one who comes out the best.
For the rest, Levy chooses to try to find the key point of lightness so that one gets carried away but without leaving the feeling that there is nothing really at stake and that the protagonist will succeed without difficulty. The baggage is irregular, because when he opts for a more intimate and personal approach, ‘The Adam Project’ works betterbut when it comes to upscaling the movie, the result tends to be a bit generic.
There it is not so much for lack of means, that it is noted that the investment made has been generous enough, as for the fact that this most spectacular component seems determined to get out of trouble. Whether it’s because he didn’t have more time to deliver something really impressive in the visual effects work or because Levy just wasn’t too interested in it, the truth is that there one does not regret having to see it in streaming instead of in the cinema.
The funny thing is that ‘The Adam Project’ ends up working more by accumulation than because there is something really memorable, but because the simplicity of what it proposes ends up giving shape to a hobby that feels more comfortable flirting with the idea of becoming a youth adventure aimed at family audiences instead of a great blockbuster. It is almost as if they wanted to get close to a certain 80s cinema, but without doing it fully because they believe that the public is looking for something more ostentatious.
In short
‘The Adam Project’ could have been Netflix’s first big blockbuster of 2022, but when it comes down to it, it’s more enjoyable when it has smaller intentions and a more innocent approach. What we are left with is a fairly worthy pastime but one that we will forget shortly after seeing it.