The Adam Project

All things considered from an original Netflix film, I'm a bit surprised that I liked The Adam Project as much as I did. 

Their big "action" originals are usually fine (some people really hate them) but they're light-calorie entertainment. Sure, you may not be thinking about them a month down the road (looking at you Red Notice), but hey...it was fun while it was on.

The Adam Project, on the other hand, is a film that I genuinely enjoyed. Probably even more so than my final score indicates. It's a mash up of your typical Ryan Reynolds' quip-filled script, with some small-town-and-a-little-kid nostalgia, mixed with a story about time travel. It's that latter part - the sci fi elements - that I particularly enjoyed as The Adam Project has some neat ideas that it throws around. This is definitely not a heady or "hard" sci-fi film...time travel's possibility is barely explained, but that's okay given that it's aimed to be a family based adventure. 

And in that regard, it greatly succeeds. 

Looking at the poster, you're probably impressed with the attached cast, which on any other poster in theaters would probably put butts in seats. Here, it's a little inaccurate as the two main actresses, Jennifer Garner and Zoe Saldana, have shockingly small roles to play for being such big names. Saldana in particular feels like wasted budget. She's one of the biggest movie stars in the world, yet the film hardly spends any time with her. Shockingly, I think the film could have been okay with an additional 10 minutes in length to build our her character more OR replaced her with someone mildly famous and the effect would have been the same. Saldana does fine herself, but it still feels like too small a role. Garner is less of an issue and she fits the mom role well, but the movie really belongs to Reynolds (no surprise there) and the younger version of Adam, Walker Scobell. 

Together, the two of them have some fantastic chemistry and Scobell holds his own more often than not. I think at times the script forgets his age - there are times he acts/talks older than he is and others where it feels like he's maybe not even 10 - but despite that issue he does well basically trying to play a young Ryan Reynolds while Reynolds basically plays himself, to great effect once again. This is a film that plays to his strengths, like most of the movies where he's the star, and one liners range from amusing to laugh-out-loud funny. A particular quick quip about wanting to watch "until the bubbles stop" caught me so off guard that it would have been a spit take had I been drinking and while The Adam Project isn't Reynold's funniest by a long shot, it's still family friendly and amusing. 

"C'mon! Why can't I say the F-word?"

"Do you think the film spent
too much budget on me?"
"Absolutely, yes."

We move briskly through the proceedings and in that regard, The Adam Project feels like a well-paced (if not too fast) adventure film that's likely to hold the attention of the Tik-Tok generation in your family. The action beats are surprisingly awesome, with some neat choreography and Reynold's wielding a lightsaber-esque weapon. Enemy death's are kept decidedly PG-13 since they are "back in time" but the effects are still neat and other than the overly-CGI-finale, I really enjoyed what The Adam Project had to offer in terms of action beats. That action finale is particularly hollow and continues the trend of Netflix having an awful SFX department (but honestly, WTF is going on here? I get my Netflix rate increased to $20/month and the special effects still suck a** 90% of the time...) and there's a really miscast/hollow villain. But(!) the finale past the action is surprisingly heartfelt and feels well-earned, likely earning tears from your family, but one that I was hoping the film had.

The Adam Project isn't going to earn my "best of" Netflix award or anything (that may still go to Da 5 Bloods or The Harder They Fall TBH), but this was completely enjoyable and even felt mostly original for a streamer that feels like it cashes in on trends with its blockbusters. None of the elements push it to an "amazing" category, but its humor, family-oriented tone, and zippy sci-fi help it stand out among the Netflix crowd. Tack on a memorable ending that will - at the very least attempt - to hit you right in the feels, and you've got a Friday/Saturday night well spent. 

CONS

• Almost feels like it could/should have been longer by ~10 minutes
• In particular, Zoe Saldana feels miscast because of how big a star she is due to this
• Hits worst near the end, but carries along the typical s**t Netflix special effects that I may never wrap my head around
• Lame core villain that feels miscast and mis-scripted
• Blends a lot of ideas/inspiration together and doesn't do anything particularly iconic but...

PROS

• ...the blend of ideas/inspiration does help this to feel like a mostly original science fiction tale with a focus on being family friendly. There's a lot to enjoy about the story here; I particularly enjoyed the sci-fi element
• Impressive cast that does great. Reynolds and Scobell in particular have good back-and-forth as Scobell tries to do his best Reynolds impression
• Laughs range from amusing to a couple laugh-out-loud funny moments
• Neat action beats for the most part, coupled with a neat weapon
• Ending may be the best part and feels well earned in the spirit of the "family friendly" stuff
• Entertaining and brisk, this was a fun time

Rath's Review Score | 8/10