[Movie Review] Project Almanac (2015)
Director: Dean Israelite
Writers: Andrew Deutschman, Jason Pagan
Runtime: 106 min
Main Cast:
- Jonny Weston as David Raskin
- Sofia Black-D'Elia as Jessie Pierce
- Sam Lerner as Quinn Goldberg
- Allen Evangelista as Adam Le
Review: by The Superior Spider-Sam
I think it should be said I went into this movie not thinking too highly of it so I may have been a bit biased going in. I had no interest in it from the trailers- another time travel movie, yay (he says sarcastically); it was starring relative unknowns; and the plot just seemed like it was going to be forgettable. BUT, I’ve pre judged and been terribly wrong before. Did the same happen this time? Was I pleasantly surprised?....no, this movie was stupid as hell.
What I Liked:
So the movie revolves around David Raskin (Jonny Weston) and his friends. David is an MIT bound high school senior who, after seeing himself on a video tape that’s 10 years old, discovers that his father had cracked the secret to time travel and now it was his to inherit. Now David and his four friends can go back in time and….you know, do stuff.
That’s the problem with this movie- it was literally watching what teenagers would do when given power like go a concert they missed or pass a test they failed, and I really just didn’t care. But that’s coming later. For now I will say the effects when they traveled through time were pretty cool visually. Also, the movie did make me chuckle a couple times like when David’s sister Chris (played by Virginia Gardner) decided to use the time machine to go get revenge on her high school bully.
Additionally, the movie handled what happens if you meet yourself in a nice way.
What I Didn’t Like:
I don’t know where to start. This movie failed in so many areas. I actually heard another review while driving that echoed one of my sentiments- this movie is like Chronicle (which I hated) but done in a worse way. I AM SO DONE with this found-footage garbage way of shooting movies. Blair witch project in the 90s should have been the last time it was done. It was bad when cloverfield did it, played out by paranormal activity and now this movie just adds to the problem.
My biggest problem with the genre is why the hell am I going to believe 1) a camera can survive and entire movie that’s not a Rom Com and, 2) that you will literally hold onto this camera for EVERY scene! Really? You’re going to commit a felony and record the whole thing? You’re going to just sit at your desk and have the camera record you sitting there looking at pictures on the computer? That’s normal (again, sarcastically).
Okay now that the Genre rant is over, let’s get movie specific. Firstly, get ready for two hours of painfully stupid characters; and I don’t mean just “movie” stupid (i.e girl in a horror movie who runs upstairs when being chased instead of trying to get outside), the characters in this movie are actually stupid. Like they had the winning lottery numbers and actually wrote down the wrong numbers on the ticket.
The plot is pretty basic as mentioned earlier because nothing really happens. The main conflict lasts maybe 10 minutes after being introduced close to the end of the movie. The rest of time we are literally watch teenagers act as we’d expect teenagers to act. If I really wanted to see that, I could hang with my 14 year old nephew- I don’t need to go to a theatre.
Perhaps most disappointing in this movie though is David, the main character himself. The MIT bound student who is trying to find a way to help his unemployed mother keep her home; he seems like the one who would be most likeable and he immediately turns into the one who’s decisions you question most. I think I let out an audible sigh when I realized that he too was unbelievably dumb in breaking rules that he himself set. Then I knew there was no hope.
Summary
Project Almanac is not good. Like seriously. I can’t even recommend it for Netflix because there’s re runs of Cheers and Friends to watch now. If you want to see some time traveling adventures watch Doctor Who instead.
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
