project almanac
2015 review number 22:
Project Almanac: (Science Fiction): 49 out of 100: Time travel movies are usually a lot of fun that require a huge suspension of disbelief. If you are too critical of these movies and analyse everything that happens, you won't be enjoying them at all. "Project Almanac" has some interesting and clever ideas but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
David (Jonny Weston) discovers a time travel device in his home. Together with his sister Christina (Virginia Gardner), his friends Adam (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner) and his girlfriend Jessie (Sofia Black-D'Elia), they realise the potential of the contraption but soon discover that it has some dangers. Their actions inadvertently cause a butterfly effect whereby something in the past has been changed but that action has resulted in an alternate future. Sounds a bit like "Back to the Future", doesn't it? However, this movie is nowhere as good as the much loved trilogy.
The main reason why this fails while "Back to the Future" succeeds is the first person approach to shooting the scenes. The whole movie is shot in a 'found-footage' style where some characters film everything they do. It's just plain annoying because it reflects poorly on how it was constructed. For example, some scenes have the character with the camera a long way from other characters who are talking yet the camera can pick up clearly what they are saying. Another sign of clumsy filming is when the camera occasionally cuts between the characters who are speaking. That doesn't make sense when there is only one camera recording everything. Just the whole notion of people filming everything they do is ridiculous. There was simply no need to adopt this filming process. It would have been a better film if it wasn't a 'found-footage' one. If you are prone to motion sickness, you will have a devil of a time trying to follow everything on the screen.
Although the cast is unknown, they display a lot of enthusiasm and energy. They are a likeable group and you do want them to succeed. There is some emotional attachment there when the characters are fun and the actors who portray them are trying their best. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these actors go on to bigger and brighter things in the future.
There are some clever ideas when the characters discover how they can change the past to suit their needs. However, it does take a while for these time travel sequences to occur for you have to wait about 40 minutes before the characters get to travel back in time. IMDB has classified this movie as a sci-fi/thriller but there are no thrills at all for the first 40 minutes. Whatever thrills there are following this time mark are somewhat negated by the shaky camera.
I left the cinema with a bit of a headache. I am not a fan of found-footage films so your opinion of the movie might differ to mine if you like the shaky cam approach. "Project Almanac" had the potential to be a very good time travel movie but the execution has unfortunately let it down.
Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia and Sam Lerner
(106 minutes)
Parental advice: Coarse language and sexual references
Additional scene during or after credits: No
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yih-CxTWsw (Movie trailer)
(Reviewed on Wednesday 11th February, 2015)
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