‘The Adam Project’ Review: Humor, Heroics, and Heart

Typically one of the first rules of time travel is to never meet any version of your past self or you risk creating a paradox and destroying either yourself or in some cases the entire universe. The Adam Project immediately does away with that rule, and practically all others related to time travel, and tasks two versions of the same character with saving their future together. Starring Ryan Reynolds as a fighter-pilot from the future and Walker Scobell as his younger self, the science fiction film pulls from all genres to deliver action-packed heroics, plenty of laughs, and some surprisingly touching heartfelt moments. The Adam Project has a little bit of everything.

Time travel has been invented and in 2050, fighter-pilot Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) uses it to travel back in time to escape being killed by one of the leaders who controls most of the world, Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener). He believes there’s a clue in 2018, left behind by his wife and fellow fighter-pilot Laura (Zoe Saldaña) who went missing following her jump into the past. But by accident he finds himself back in 2022 and runs into his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell). Together the two of them must join forces to undo the actions of the past and prevent the catastrophic future from occurring.

Ryan Reynolds has comfortably found his niche in films playing the wise-cracking action hero. Lately all his roles feel like some shade of Deadpool. That’s not a bad thing. He excels as that character type more often than not delivering a combination of great action and great laughs. The Adam Project is no different, only this time it’s double the dose thanks to the talents of the young Walker Scobell. He absolutely nails the same comedic timing and mannerisms as Reynolds, only more tailored to a middle schooler. It can feel a bit overwhelming initially, especially when their characters are interacting with others. Not everything needs to be some witty response and having two versions of the same character doing so gets dangerously close to being annoying. The film is able to reel it in, however, thanks to its variety of action scenes and some genuine tear-jerker moments.

Like most time travel films, The Adam Project focuses on fixing the past. Adam wants to save his future, and in order to do so he has to go back in time and prevent certain things from happening. This includes confronting his father (Mark Ruffalo) who inadvertently helped invent time travel. In 12-year-old Adam’s timeline, it’s been about a year since he passed away in a car accident so both he and his mom (Jennifer Garner) are still dealing with the grief of that loss. So often we wish we could give our younger selves words of advise or courage in how to deal with a situation. Hindsight is 20/20. Here though, Adam has the ability to actually do that. There are a handful of scene where Reynold’s Adam has a heart-to-heart conversation with someone, whether its with his mom about grief or with his younger self about being such a little asshole. They’re all absolutely fantastic and allow Reynolds and everyone else to explore their characters through something other than action or humor. In these moments, they wear their hearts on their sleeves, making their characters and the film stronger and more well rounded.

That’s what makes The Adam Project so enjoyable. There’s plenty of futuristic sci-fi action with cool looking gadgets including a lightsaber-esque sword, invisible jets, etc. But there’s also these truly down to earth moments that connect everything together. Sure, it’s best not to think too hard about the rules behind time travel. The Adam Project isn’t the best when it comes to explaining or even following it’s own logic, but that’s not too vital to the story it’s telling.

At its core, The Adam Project is a story about growth and coming to terms with what you can and cannot change. It’s got plenty of action but also plenty of heart, resulting on one entertaining sci-fi adventure for everyone, regardless of whether you’re 12 or 40.