Ryan Reynolds has arrived on Netflix once again, this time, in my opinion, with considerably better results. Last year, Reynolds starred alongside Dwayne Johnson in Red Notice, which was nowhere near as entertaining as it should have been. This year, he is the star of The Adam Project, a film that had been in development for almost a decade.

Reynolds was a time-travelling pilot that departed from 2050 with the intent of returning to 2018 to stop the invention of time travel and help fix the future. However, pursued by Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener), Reynolds was shot and landed in 2022 instead where he met his own self as a 13-year old (Walker Scobell) and attempted to avoid the forces chasing him from 2050.

Ryan Reynolds is fantastic here, with his typical attitude and quips dialed back. Adam from the future still had the Ryan Reynolds jokes, but they were tempered with a sadness from a lifetime of loss and anger. Reynolds had great chemistry with Walker Scobell, who picked up a lot of the quips and one-liners that Reynolds did not use. Scobell had nice comedic timing and he delivered the lines in perfect fashion, like he was actually Reynolds as a youth.

There are some exciting sci-fi action, although honestly, most of the effects are things that we have seen in other sci-fi projects. Young Adam makes a joke about older Adam’s weapon being a light saber as an example of items we have seen before. Of course the line, “Dude, that is a light saber” is very funny and wonderfully delivered.

The strength of this movie is the relationship between old and young Adam and how they can’t really get anything past each other because they are the same person. There is a lot of analysis between the two of them and their truth is obvious. These scenes with Reynolds and Scobell light up the screen more than the sci-fi weaponry does.

There are other great actors in supporting roles in The Adam Project. Zoe Saldana appears as a woman that Older Adam knew from the future. She made a real impact in her short time on the scree. Mark Ruffalo also does a incredible job in the film as Adam’s father, Louis Reed. He is involved heavily in the end of the film and the emotional moments that come along with it. Unfortunately, Adam’s mom Ellie, played by Jennifer Garner, does not get enough to do, but there is a sweet scene between her and Ryan Reynolds in a bar.

The third act big set piece action scene was a bit of a letdown as the credibility of what happened had to be stretched too far to believe. There are still some interesting moments inside of the third act, especially the ones that deal with their interpersonal relationships, but the action itself is fairly weak.

However, the resolution of the story is satisfying, if not predictable, and the film leaves the viewers with a positive feeling and a great rock song.

This had the feel of a solid sci-fi adventure and Ryan Reynolds is as charming as he ever was. Young Walker Scobell is very good as a young Adam and carried much of the first two acts of the film. It is a time travel movie so the process of time travel is important and I am not sure that the film knows exactly how it worked. Bonus points though to Walker Scobell for mentioning a multiverse. It is all the rage right now.

The Adam Project was a solid film that I enjoyed watching despite a few flaws that are apparent in the film.

4 stars