Warning! SPOILERS for The Adam Project.
The Adam Project features several spectacular action scenes with iconic ’60s and ’70s music in their backdrops – however, the one moment that perhaps pushes the film’s sci-fi envelope a bit too far is Louis’ bullet dodge scene. From wormholes to Back to the Future references, the film uses almost every trick in the book to make its easy-on-the-science premise all the more entertaining. While Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool-inspired meta-awareness shtick and slapstick humor are enough to keep most viewers hooked throughout its runtime, the film’s familial themes and Mark Ruffalo’s performance help spin some emotional yarn to The Adam Project‘s science fiction spindle.
The Adam Project centers on a rogue fighter pilot named Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) who travels back in time to find his missing wife Laura (Zoe Saldaña). When he arrives in the year 2022 through a wormhole, he comes face-to-face with his 12-year-old self who encourages him to travel further back in time to the year 2018 to meet their late father and save the world from an imminent time travel disaster. Towards the climactic ending of The Adam Project, Adam decides to blow up an electromagnetic accelerator, otherwise known as the Adam Project, to prevent time travel from being invented and terminate Sorian’s mission to rule the world in the future. As a battle breaks loose between Adam and Sorian’s evil forces, a bullet breaks the electromagnetic seal of the accelerator and triggers a chain reaction of visually stunning action scenes.
During the showdown, Sorian ultimately gains the upper hand and threatens to shoot the unarmed Reed family. However, when she fires her gun, the bullet turns mid-air and kills her younger self, eradicating the existence of her older self as well. When Older Adam demands an explanation for Loius’ death-defying, bullet-bending act, Louis (played by Mark Ruffalo) loosely explains that “those armor-piercing rounds contain a magnetic steel core.” With this, he implies that after the accelerator’s electromagnetic seal was broken, its magnetic field spread all over Sorian’s facility and started pulling in everything magnetic. Since the armor-piercing bullet also had a magnetic core, it got deflected by the accelerator’s magnetic field. Instead of traveling straight, the bullet dovetailed towards the accelerator.
Click here to watch The Adam Project Plot Holes (And Other Time Travel Movie Mistakes) on YouTube
Even after knowing that Louis is a brilliant scientist, it’s hard to believe that in a matter of seconds, he precisely predicted the bullet’s movement relative to the magnetic field. It’s also fair to say that Louis got fairly lucky as he could not have predicted that the bullet would directly hit Young Dorian after being sidetracked from its straight path. However, considering how there have been far more bizarre bullet-warping scenes in other sci-fi films like Wanted and The Matrix, The Adam Project’s scientific liberties perhaps deserve a pass.
Beyond its shock-and-awe entertainment, The Adam Project has a sentimental core that feels a lot more realistic and relatable than its sci-fi elements. It deals with themes surrounding grief and the unreliability of memories in an intriguing way. Through these themes, The Adam Project makes viewers set aside their cynical reservations. If not for its high suspension of disbelief, The Adam Project deserves praise for its scintillating performances, genuine family drama, and, of course, Ryan Reynold’s signature brand of humor.
