Netflix’s The Adam Project – A Throwback Adventure (Early Review)

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing as audiences often look to the past as an escape, to be brought back to their respective heydays, harkening back to those great genre films of the past. Netflix continues to beef up their original film slate with offerings across styles and genres. However, money doesn’t always translate to success. While the streamer has found critical acclaim and have been part of the award conversation as of late, their big cinematic offerings have arguably found the most success. It’s all about entertaining the widest audience possible and when it comes to The Adam Project, that film will do all of that and more. Better on a big screen and a big sound system, it is definitely a cinematic experience that can be found at home. A fun and entertaining watch throughout its running time, it bolsters that watch with a story with tons of laughs and heart. While not necessarily original, it is a genre film that doesn’t get too carried away, focusing on the multi-generational story at its center. In the end, what made it work was the titular dynamic, led by Ryan Reynolds and newcomer Walker Scobell.

The Adam Project is a time traveling action-adventure that follows two generations of Adams as the older time traveling pilot (Reynolds) encounters his younger self (Scobell) while on a secret mission. Little did he know, finding his younger self meant reuniting with a part of himself he thought he had moved on from. The much smaller, wise-cracking, and incredibly-nerdy younger Adam proved to be quite the handful but nevertheless, the two would need to find a way to work together in order to save the world. The dynamic of the two very different Adams made for some hilarious interactions that came fast and furious throughout their adventure, accentuated by the clear contrast between both characters. Though there were challenges along the way, suffice it to say that they brought out the best out of one another in a compelling yet still predictable way. Ultimately, their deceased father Louis Reed (Ruffalo) was the key.

The younger Adam and his perspective and youthful energy made for a fun window into this new world that he could only dream of, incessantly asking questions as any young nerdy person would and just being a general annoyance. That being said, the older Adam did his best to reign in that energy but there was only so much he could do. They were a blast to watch together as over the course of the film, those reigns lessened as they reconnected in the midst of trying to save the world and addressing some unresolved issues both in the past and the future. Perhaps where the film was lacking was on the other side of that equation. Essentially plugging in an antagonist for the sake of one, Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) left much to be desired in terms of depth though still had a presence to her. While there may not have been much there in terms of story beyond the premise, The Adam Project survives on its heart and sheer entertainment value alone. 

On a technical level, The Adam Project was surprisingly impressive for what it was. The special effects, embracing the sci-fi genre, weren’t as plentiful or top tier by any means but they still looked good for the most part. The action followed along those lines, each having their moments. Not as plentiful, with the film opting for more character development, it was still solid and exciting to watch. Meanwhile, the score if anything was fun more than anything else. The classic rock soundtrack was just cool.

However at the end of the day, the best part of the film was its performances. Reynolds and Scobell led the way, as mentioned, as the two titular Adams. The former has never lacked in charisma and this film was no different. While it has been argued that he has played the same character as of late, this was not the case here or at least he split the charming wise-cracker character with Scobell. Their chemistry was sensational as the latter’s scene-stealing performance in his first feature film role offers plenty of promise in what looks to be a promising career. Ruffalo and Garner as Adam’s parents Louis and Ellie nicely rounded out the family dynamic but it was really the Reynolds and Scobell show.

Overall, The Adam Project is a winner that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but entertains which is all we really want anyway.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.