THE ADAM PROJECT

The picture liberally riffs off Back to the Future, Star Wars and just about every time travel movie ever made without coming up with a single original idea of its own.

I do not expect big budget four-quadrant movies to be wholly original, but it wouldn't hurt to be less blatant about the films you steal from than The Adam Project does.

Clinically manufactured to a point where no discernible heartbeat is left, the picture liberally riffs off Back to the Future, Star Wars and just about every time travel movie ever made without coming up with a single original idea of its own.

This wouldn't be so bad if The Adam Project had a bunch of characters you could emotionally invest in, but on that front too the picture drops the ball, as it sends an autopilot Ryan Reynolds back in time to connect with his annoyingly quick-witted younger self in order to fight yet another boring corporate villain and find the true meaning of fatherly love in the process.

If all of this sounds cloying and predictable and woefully unimaginative you wouldn't be wrong, though I'm sure there are plenty of Netflix users out there who will happily turn off their brain for 100-odd minutes to watch The Adam Project in its entirety. I'd rather wish to travel back in time and urge myself to do something else instead, though.

release: 2022

director: Shawn Levy

starring: Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner