Streaming on Netflix
For those who may not know, Timecop is a science-fiction action movie from 1994 about a future where time travel exists and is heavily policed and regulated. It stars martial artists and former 90s action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, one of the many egotistical and eccentric action stars of the 90s, to the point that he had (I kid you not) a personal cameraman whose only job on set was to get great-looking shots of his biceps. The film was one of those cases where it had a great idea that could have been incredible and memorable for the right reasons, only for it to be bogged down by the demands of the action cinema craze at the time, not to mention the many bits of unintentional hilarity throughout the film's runtime, including at least one not-so-awesome scene of the hero defeating a henchman by performing the splits.
That film was recently featured on the popular podcast How Did This Get Made for good reasons, needless to say.
I mention this classic movie because it bares some resemblance to today's subject, The Adam Project. It may not be an official better remake of a bad movie, but it's close enough. A science-fiction action film about time travel with an attractive star, only it's a much better and more entertaining execution of the idea. Featuring jokes that land, visceral action scenes, exciting needle drops, and performances that feel genuine in every way. Despite a few unfortunate technical issues (which I will get into shortly), it's a fun film.
The story follows a young boy named Adam (Walker Scobell) dealing with the relatively recent loss of his father and school bullies. He takes his feelings out on his mother (Jennifer Garner), who is doing her best to help the situation. One night, while his mom is out on a date, Adam witnesses a strange event in the nearby woods and investigates. He finds a mysterious man (Ryan Reynolds) who turns out to be himself from the future. Future Adam traveled back in time to search for his wife who he believes was nearly the victim of attempted murder by the corporation that owns time travel tech and wants to prevent her from revealing something terrible. From there, the story flows into a series of well-timed jokes, touching moments, invigorating action scenes, and surprisingly clever writing.
Seriously, I am pleasantly surprised at how much fun this movie is. It probably shouldn't be a surprise, given director Shawn Levy's track record. This is the same guy who made Real Steel (a fun amalgamation of Rocky and The Champ but with robots and a genuinely entertaining kid) and is slated to do Deadpool 3. Although, to be fair, he also did Free Guy (which was basically Disney showing off all the new toys they bought with their acquisition of 20th Century Fox) and The Internship (the less said about that one, the better), so it's not like he's a mastermind. Still, when he's good, he's outstanding!
The dialogue and banter are probably what ultimately sells the movie. It's witty, well-timed, and precisely delivered by talented actors who feel like they're having a great time on set. Everyone's chemistry and energy feel fun and contagious. It's easy to forget to let the cast and characters have fun once in a while because it'll also encourage the audience to have fun with them.
The only aspect of the film that keeps me from declaring it perfect is the terrible and poorly mixed audio. Like many movies of the modern era, it doesn't seem to understand how to properly combine various levels of sound without damaging someone's sound system or, even worse, their hearing. The levels go from reasonable to excessively loud (typically during action scenes) with no proper transitions or sense of balance. Usually, I don't mind when an action scene ups the volume a little bit to increase the excitement, but if I find myself changing the volume on my TV every fifteen minutes, it's too much!
The Adam Project is a fun little adventure with likable characters and a cool enough concept to keep things moving smoothly. Aside from the awful sound mixing, it's an invigorating ride worth taking. Check it out.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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