The Adam Project review: Packs quite fun

The film sees Reynolds doing a time travel to the past, uniting with his 12-year-old self

The film sees Reynolds doing a time travel to the past, uniting with his 12-year-old self (a terrific Walker Scobell) and also meeting his father (played by Mark Ruffalo).

It essentially exudes exuberant vibes with a heady cocktail of slick VFX action and fantasy. He is a time-tripping smirky renegade pilot but was bullied in school and the two cannot fathom each other's divergent personalities.

Zoe Sakldana plays Laura, Adam's wife who goes on a mission under the command of Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener)but never returns, and that triggers Adam to undertake the 'fix-things-of-the-past' adventure. But he lands on a different date of another year. Scobell playing the younger version of Adam is the atypical, cool observant type guy who is tiny for his wisdom and the boy aces his part.

He and Reynolds render an unrelenting and dynamite chemistry which makes the one-and-half-hour film entertaining.

Equally indulging are the sequences between Ruffalo and Reynolds - witty and skirmish.

The film turns juicier with an engaging and sentimental rendition of Mama Ellie Reed by Jennifer Garner.

Shawn Levy, who made the Oscar-nominated 'Arrival' and the Netflix series, Stranger Things, downplays on the intrigue quotient and fashions Adam Project as a family drama where grief and human longing propel the narrative.

But the director, who digs for the redemptive nature in his stories, undeniably creates a visual spectacle too. The action scenes are choreographed to classic rock — “Gimme Some Lovin’,” “Foreplay/Long Time” by Boston, Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times, boosted by sweeping VFX and cinematography. The heavy duty sci-fi is balanced by moments of nostalgia and emotional buoyancy.

Final words

It is more meant for large screen but the OTT relegation doesn't limit its prospects. As the Reynolds/Levy team up for more entertainers, I stand vindicated by the fact that they are not faking the fun.

I go with 3.5 stars for The Adam Project. The film is streaming on Netflix.