THE ADAM PROJECT: 3 STARS
Ryan Reynolds has carved out a unique and profitable niche for himself on screen. The current king of the non-IP action comedy, he recently scored big hits with “Red Notice” and “Free Guy,” original movies not based on a comic book or existing videogame premise. This week, add to that list “The Adam Project,” a sci fi adventure flick now streaming on Netflix co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner.
Adam Reed (Walker Scobell), a precocious thirteen-year-old living with his mother Ellie (Garner), is still stinging from the death of his father a year earlier. “Son, you need to think about your future,” Ellie says, “because it’s coming. Sooner than you think.”
In fact, it may have already arrived.
One day Adam finds a wounded fighter pilot hiding in his family’s garage. Turns out the stranger isn’t a stranger after all. He’s Adam (Reynolds) from the future; the grown-up version with a bullet hole in his side and a mission. “You’re me,” says the awestruck youngster. “That’s classified,” says older Adam, “but yes, I once was.”
The time traveller jumped back to 2022 to save the world, using information created by his late scientist father Louis (Ruffalo). To do complete the mission, he’ll need to jump back in time further, this time with young Adam at his side. First though, there is a time travelling villain (Catherine Keener) and the question of how to come to grips with the past while saving the future.
Time travel movies rarely ever make perfect sense, and “The Adam Project” is no different. Time may be a flat circle, and destined to repeat itself, but the cinematic machinations of jumping from year to year, of changing the past from the future, often make my head hurt and take me out of the story.
“The Adam Project” sneaks by, not because of its grasp of the paradox of theoretical physics, but because if the chemistry between Reynolds and his young co-star Scobell.
Reynolds, reunites with his “Free Guy” director Shawn Levy, brings his trademarked charisma and way with a joke, while Scobell, making his acting debut, is a natural foil. He is funny, charming and holds his own against Reynolds, arguably one of the best scene stealers in movies today.
They click and because they do, the movie works. The sci fi aspects of the story, the Stormtrooper-looking soldiers from the future or the noisy CGI climax, don’t make as much of an impression as the film’s heart and soul, the relations ship between the Adams and their father as they heal the wounds caused by their dad’s death.
“The Adam Project” threatens to allow the special effect fireworks to overshadow its story, but contains just enough heartwarming material to earn comparisons to the 1980s Ambling movies that were clearly an inspiration.
TURNING RED: 4 STARS
You can tell Pixar’s “Turning Red,” a charming new animated film now streaming on Disney+, was directed by someone who grew up in Toronto. Academy Award® winning director Domee Shi includes such staples of city life as a TTC pass and the CN Tower, but it is her reference to the Skydome, the original and only proper name, of the arena now known as the Rogers Center, that cements her Hogtown bona fides.
Meilin Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), the movie’s main character, is a free spirit in a traditional family. She likes to dance, hangout with her friends and she especially loves the boy band 4*Town. “Ever since I turned thirteen,” she says, “I’ve been doing my own thing.”
She is navigating the line between dutiful daughter to mother Ming (voice of Sandra Oh) and nonconformist. “Number one rule in my family is honor your parents,” she says, “but, if you take it too far you might forget to honor yourself.”
Everything changes for Meilin one morning after she has a nightmare and before you can say, “Poof!,” she changes into a giant red panda. Hearing a commotion upstairs, Ming investigates. “You are a woman now and your body is starting to change,” she says through the door to her obviously upset daughter.
When the truth of the situation is revealed, Ming is not surprised. Turns out the panda transformation runs in the family, usually following some kind of emotional episode. Unless Meilin wants to be a shapeshifter for the rest of her life, she has to listen to her parents. “There is a darkness to the panda,” says Mei’s father Jin Lee (Orion Lee). “You only have one chance to banish it. And you cannot fail, otherwise you’ll never be free.”
A special ceremony can cure her of the plight, but it must be performed under the red moon, which is one month away, the same night as the big 4*Town show at the Skydome.
“Turning Red” is an imaginatively animated movie that will make your eyeballs dance. Toronto is lovingly recreated and the characters have personality to burn. Mei’s alter ego, the giant red panda, is equal parts terrifying and adorable, a metaphor for puberty come to life, writ large. Topped off with great voice work from Chiang and Oh, it’s a Pixar worthy effort that can sit on the shelf next to the classics like “Up,” “WALL-E’ and “Toy Story.”
The coming-of-age story is equally well handled. The importance of family is a key message, like it is in many kid’s movies, but it is Shi’s sensitive (and very funny) lessons of asserting and being true to yourself that set it apart. Mei feels smothered by the overprotective Ming, but she sticks up for herself, even if it is scary. “I’m changing mom,” she says. “I’m afraid it will take me away from you.”
“Don’t hold back, for anyone,” replies Ming. ”The farther you go, the prouder I’ll be.”
It’s more touching and more nuanced than you might expect from a film about a young girl who changes into a panda, but “Turning Red” is that movie. It is unafraid to be silly, serious and heartfelt, often at the same time. It’s a lovely, insightful portrait of the chaos of being a kid and how respect, family and friends (and a little boy band music) can help smooth out the wild ride. Oh, and Toronto has rarely looked better on screen!
AFTER YANG: 3 ½ STARS
“After Yang,” a new sci fi film starring Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith now playing in theatres, is about a sentient robot life, but the firepower of humanoid android movies like “The Terminator” has been replaced by a slow, contemplative mood.
Set in the near future, “After Yang” begins with the loss of the artificially intelligent Yang (The Umbrella Academy’s Justin H. Min), an android purchased by Kyra and Jake (Jodie Turner-Smith and Colin Farrell) as a cyborg companion and “older sibling” to their adopted Asian daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). When Yang suffers a core malfunction and shuts down, Mika mourns the loss of her “gege” or older brother in Mandarin.
Jake’s search for a way to repair the “xjmtzywtechnosapien” caregiver is trickier than you would think. It’s more complicated than taking a malfunctioning iPad back to the Apple store. The manufacturer will only fix the twelve most common problems, and warns Jake it is illegal to access the data stored in the robot’s memory banks.
Nonetheless, Jake accepts a tool to access Yang’s core chip from museum curator (Sarita Choudhury), only to discover he’s been refurbished several times and holds memories from his many experiences.
Director Koganada focuses attention on the meditative aspects of the story, not the mechanical, creating introspective sci fi that elegantly and subtly explores issues of existence, grief, love and memory. The film’s cold, detached exterior melts away as the running time clicks along, as the sci fi aspects of the story become a study of relationships and why we connect with the people and objects that we do.
Understated but heartfelt performances from Farrell, Turner-Smith , Min and Tjandrawidjaja add emotional resonance to a speculative story that is geared to appeal to the heart as much as the brain.
“Ultimately, the film Koganada has made is a poignant family drama with some sci fi elements. But just because “After Yang” is more interesting than exciting doesn’t mean it isn’t effective and memorable.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
Ryan Reynolds and Walker Scobell are seen in in “The Adam Project” (Netflix)
This image released by A24 shows Justin H. Min and Haley Lu Richardson in a scene from “After Yang.” (A24 via AP)
