As with most people, I recently watched the Adam Project over the weekend. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film stars Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner. It is a time travelling adventure where Ryan’s character, Adam Reed, crashes in 2022. He then has to fix the future by fixing the past. Anyway, enough with the recap shit, lets dive into the film.
For some reason as I was watching this film, I thought it would be perfect to do a SWOT analysis of. So if you ever did a business subject, this is for you.
Strengths
This film is fucking entertaining. I can safely say I was never bored watching this and was on board from the get-go. I think this is down to a few key factors. Firstly, the pacing. The Adam Project is paced extremely well. The 30 writers and Shawn Levy keep you locked in the entire time. As a great man once said, it feels like a theme park ride. And I think this is a good thing. Similar to Levy’s other work, it is designed for children. It supposed to be breakneck speed with little breathing room. As a result, it doesn’t give you time to reflect on some of plot holes.
The film also has Ryan Reynolds. He truly has to be one of the biggest draw cards in the box office right now. If you simply slap his face on any project people are going to watch it (Red Notice, I am looking at you). But in this he feels a little different. As expected, Ryan is playing the same character as usual however he takes the emotional scenes much further. Maybe it’s because I have only seen his big performances, but he is really going for it in those deeper moments. It adds a level of realism that I never really see in his characters in films like Free Guy, Deadpool and most of his other work. Also, his whole character is very appealing. I love how he has become the complete opposite to his younger self and even his father. Every little detail shows how much he wanted to be different from his Dad.
Building on from this, the movie has some solid dramatic moments. Any scenes between young Adam and his parents are pretty brutal and also Ryan and his wife. But the key theme that really hit me was the regret Adam has towards his parents. Maybe its just a personal thing, but this is such a depressing and realistic portrayal of grief. Adam has all this unexpressed love for his father – who passed – and also his mother. Its so simple yet grounds the story perfectly.
The Adam Project also looks like a real movie. By that I mean it doesn’t look like your standard shitty Netflix Film. I even like its over stylised and bright coloured look. Also, the rest of the cast smashes it. Especially Mark Ruffalo. He is just so charismatic in what ever he does.
Weaknesses
Holy fucking shit, whose idea was it allow that deep fake garbage in the film. It is so distracting and shitty looking that it completely removed me from the scene. Even worse, it took me away from what could’ve been a great villain. Catherine Keener is such an excellent actress, and she is completely wasted in this film. We see her for about three scenes and when we do, she is overshadowed by a Madam Tussauds Wax Figure of her. JUST USE MAKEUP!
I also thought the writing of Mark Ruffalo’s character was a bit whack. Maybe I am just dumb, but I was very confused if he was supposed to be a shit dad or a good one. They made him out to seem like he neglected Adam but to me he seemed like just a normal Dad who is working hard.
There is one line in this film that triggered me to my core. I mean that literally. As young Adam lands in the final acts, he says the words ‘Superhero Landing.” Now obviously, this is a direct call to Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. They did it in Free Guy as well with the captain America shield and lightsabres. I HATE THIS SHIT. Its so forced and has no relevance in this world. Like why would a young Adam say “superhero landing” in this film? Producers do this shit because they think its what nerds like. Instead, it is completely forced and just made me realise that this is still at Hollywood blockbuster at its heart.
Opportunities
For this segment, I want to talk about Shawn Levy and the announcement he is directing Deadpool 3. Now I think a lot of his work is solid. Free guy is very average, but I have always liked films like Reel Steel and the Night at the Museums, even if they don’t appeal to critics. After looking at his IMDB, I realised that through the majority of his work, Levy loves looking at everything through a child’s eyes. Similar to Spielberg, he always has core themes about parents and their kids. Which for the most part seems to work for him (it definitely did in the Adam Project.) However, I don’t know if this will apply to Deadpool 3. Maybe they will bring back Julian Dennison as Rusty or look at Deadpool’s childhood? Honestly, I would just love for him to bring his take to it. Not try and be like the first two films but instead follow his own path.
Threats
Honestly the biggest threat is maybe to Ryan Reynolds. He is now literally playing himself no matter what role he is in. It gets very distracting. Personally, whenever I watch a movie of his I do not view his character as a real person. Instead, it is simply just Ryan on screen. Obviously, his career is his decision, but I would love to see him diversify more like he used to.
So should you watch it tonight?
Yeah absolutely. I think this movie definitely appeals to the “majority” of film viewers. It is not a challenging watch and very uplifting and funny.