Bullet Points: The Adam Project
Ryan Reynolds has partnered up once again with Netflix, this time to bring some fun, family, time traveling, sci-fi action with The Adam Project…
- Star Studded: The Adam Project is loaded with stars. Whether it was the Netflix checkbook or Ryan Reynolds’ Rolodex the movie is a who’s who of Hollywood. In addition to Ryan, is Jennifer Garner playing his mother, Mark Ruffalo as his father, and Zoe Saldana. The breakout star is young Adam played by Walker Scobell. His interactions with Ryan are the heart of the film. His wit and comebacks are perfect to what Ryan brings with his trademark delivery. Reynolds is in his bag and brings everything you expect: charm and snark along with some tears and emotion. The movie has a lot of heart both in the joy of a beat down nerd finding out he grows up to be Ryan Reynolds but also in how it deals with loss, grief and coping with our reality. I am also a sucker for stories about kids and their parents reconciling.
- They Want EFX: The effects and action are solid. Netflix really took the premise seriously, as this borders on a family film not a big time action film from an existing property it would have been easy to cut corners. The aerial dog fights and ground combat all is paced and orchestrated beautifully. The cinematography also has a distinct color and style to it that again is typically only reserved for the biggest tent pole genre films. I came in expecting something more similar to Ryan’s other recent Netflix film Red Notice. Which had all the flash but still felt a little hollow and like the stars knew they were doing a Netflix movie a streaming service needed. The Adam Project takes itself very seriously, is filled with great performances and has a message to get across. I just would have liked to see Netflix put a bit more behind it.
- The Verdict: I will be honest I did not know The Adam Project was even a thing until a few weeks ago. Netflix released the trailer very close to the premiere and I feel they missed a bit on the messaging. Sure it is a sci-fi Ryan Reynolds film but it feels a lot like those fun kids/teen movies of the 90s. Ones that threw a few curse words in there and had a little edge but were simple premises with kids at the core. It might be Netflix banking on the Ryan Reynolds name or just knowing they need to do very little to promote their films at this point. All they have to do is flash it on screen and make it hit the top ten and it will be seen by plenty of people. Still I feel the movie deserved a little more to really sell it. This is fun for the whole family and at its core, beyond the discount lightsabers and sci-fi effects, is a story of family. Sure pretty sappy for the typical Bulletproof Action shoot ’em up but if you let yourself go back to a simpler time you can have a lot of fun.
