Last month, I was invited to a special pre-screening online event for The Adam Project, starring Ryan Reynolds, on February 28th (release date of March 11th on Netflix). I had to wait a day for the tears to finally leave my eyes after finishing this film to write my review. My tweet here had to be brief as they asked us to give our immediate first impressions after the viewing.
I opted to keep this review spoiler-free, the only warning I’ll give is to make sure to watch this with as much family as possible and keep a box of Kleenex nearby. My first expectation of the film was to be thrust solely into an adventure during Adam’s life, but in there I also had to go through the emotional adventure that was also young and older Adam’s life.
The first thing I have to note is the star Walker Scobell became, having to play a young Ryan Reynolds. Interestingly enough I found out that Walker memorized Deadpool 2 when he was 11. They obviously found the right actor for the part and he may be a rising star as well! He did great on-screen alongside multiple established movie stars and his ability to be a smart-mouthed 12-year-old was very commendable for his very first acting job.
While the humor is similar to a previous Shawn/Ryan team-up in Free Guy, the story itself is more entertaining and emotional in their interactions with Adam’s parents. Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo as his parents are just as important as Adam to the story – each of them contributing heavily to both Adams’ developments.
Zoe Saldana’s short but sweet time with Adam will rip your heart into pieces and equally wows you with her fighting scenes, you’ll wish she showed up earlier and left later. The ships, weapons, and science of The Adam Project take a backseat to the many aspects of beloved franchises such as Back to the Future, E.T. in regards to themes of loss and acceptance, and going back to the home where you belong. While the dogfights are fun, the scenes with the parents are the real highlights.
My only gripe with the film was an overly generic villain, their motivations. They seemingly had no reason as to why they wanted to succeed except for more money and power which is almost said verbatim. Also, the use of CG (think Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One) does take you out of some scenes more than you’d like towards the ending. The story conclusion is predictable but pleasant and luckily doesn’t hint at any sequels (no post-credits scenes to be found) but leaves you with a warm hope.
I wish I had been able to experience this film in full 4K (the screening software could not maintain a consistent resolution so some sequences were quite pixelated for me, unfortunately) and enjoy the fun time-warping visuals. I do see myself firing this one up again to hear Boston and Led Zeppelin throughout their paired sequences and be wowed by Adam’s piloting prowess once more.
One day I hope Ryan Reynolds finally gets to be in a Star Wars movie as this is the second time he’s wielded a saber that is lit up.
My rating for this film:
★★★★ / ♥♥♥♥♥
I hope you enjoy this one at home on March 11th when it premieres online on Netflix! Are you excited about this movie? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments below!
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