The Adam Project (2022) Dir: Shawn Levy
Instagram post:
In all honesty, I had very little interest in this Netflix original film when I heard about it, but an inconveniently timed illness gave me some free time and I figured why not give this conveniently average length film a go.
Straight away, I noticed the remarkably enjoyable vibes of the film. It has the first half of Guardians Of The Galaxy vibes, but honestly, better. Plus, there are also distinct Goonies feels, which is definitely another positive. They also make a number of references to other iconic time travel films of the past. There's even a Deadpool reference!
The narrative holds up surprisingly well, far better than I assumed it would. It even does a pretty ample job of working around it's inevitable premise issues which every time travel production comes up against - even if it does get a little meta at points.
There are some moments that feel like they would have felt bigger if the lead up had a little more time, but the film's 90 minute run time seems to limit this. There is one scene which, while wholesome, was quite cliché of american films, though how the end that scene is so well done.
This one shockingly felt like a big blockbuster Hollywood production, although in fairness this did have a $130 million budget. I imagine much of that did go on actor payments in truth.
I really enjoyed the musical score in this, and the rest of the soundtrack is arguably even better. Furthermore, the CGI is surprisingly good for a Netflix film. I was so pleasantly surprised.
Walker Scobell imitates the Ryan Reynolds comedy style surprisingly well. He also has pretty good chemistry with his older, exponentially more experienced counterpart. He was honestly the clear standout of this film and I really enjoyed his performance.
Okay, onto this film's biggest name. Ryan Reynolds playing the same character as every other film he's in? What a shock. That said, Ryan does actually give some genuinely very well acted human moments.
Mark Ruffalo kind of plays a certain Marvel character we all know him as, but he does enough to make him feel like a different person in the end I feel.
Jennifer Garner doesn't have a massive role in this one, but she does alright with the screentime she has. Catherine Keener develops into quite the psychopath in a really satisfying way.
Zoe Saldaña has a bit of a strange one here. In some scenes she has some quite decent moments, in others she seems to go unnecessarily over dramatic - which really took me out of those scenes. She also has next to no screentime, which felt a bit odd.
Overall, this one turned out to be a real unexpected delight of a film for me. I think director Shawn Levy did a wonderful job constructing this modern film with an 80s flair behind it.
Comments