The Adam Project is available to stream on Netflix from tomorrow, and the reviews for the streamer's latest star-studded movie are in.
Taking inspiration from several '80s classics, the new sci-fi adventure sees Ryan Reynolds play a man who must travel back in time to get help from his 13-year-old self. While he’s there, he encounters his late father, a physicist played by Mark Ruffalo, who is now the same age as Reynolds’ character. Jennifer Garner plays Adam's mother, while Zoe Saldaña is his present-day wife and Catherine Keener is the movie's villain.
But what do the critics think? We've rounded up a selection of reviews for you to check out below – so scroll on to get an idea of what to expect from The Adam Project.
GamesRadar+
"Together, Ruffalo and the two Adams are an unstoppable force. Time travel makes little sense in The Adam Project’s world, potentially a side effect of there being four different writers, but the camaraderie between the three leads is impossibly charming. Once you turn your brain off from understanding the intricacies of the central concept, there are bountiful jokes to laugh along with, and an especially tender and worthwhile scene after the climactic fight."
Variety
"The real time travel in this movie is back to the days when even action could be a boisterous form of feel-good entertainment. The Adam Project is the definition of trivial, and on the small screen it overstays its welcome by about 15 minutes, but it’s a brashly likable piece of antic high-powered fluff."
The Hollywood Reporter
"But a big, dumb lug of a movie that cribs from the Bruce Willis vehicle The Kid, Back to the Future and too many other sci-fi titles to list – and has a protagonist so smugly self-aware that none of his feelings ring true – isn’t really engineered for emotional investment. And everything else is too pedestrian to generate excitement."
IGN
"On the surface, The Adam Project is another attempt to hook us with nostalgia. The action-packed sci-fi adventure is straight out of our childhoods, and it will definitely resonate with viewers of a certain age. Thankfully, it’s a lot deeper than that. The Adam Project also tells a story about reconciling our past and really coming to terms with the life we’ve lived and the choices we’ve made."
IndieWire
"The Adam Project slips into a numbing cycle of pseudoscience and pointed one-liners because it fails to accrue any emotional weight. How Adam plans to reunite with his dead wife (Zoe Saldaña) only becomes a sticking point if viewers don’t care about why, just as why the two Adams need to team up with their dead father (Mark Ruffalo) to save the world only matters if viewers don’t care about how these people might be able to save each other."
NME
"The CGI-heavy fight scenes are compelling enough, though the final showdown is so silly and predictable it almost feels like something from an Austin Powers movie. The main problem, though, is that none of the four credited screenwriters has managed to flesh out these characters in any meaningful way."
For more viewing inspiration, check out our list of the best Netflix movies to stream right now.
