‘Project Almanac’ is MTV Films’
entry into the well-worn time machine subgenre, beating ‘Hot Tub Time Machine
2’ by a whole three weeks to our local Megaplex (no pun intended). Unlike police call boxes, hot tubs or
DeLoreans, the time machine in PA is rather nondescript and bare bones
functional, an incomplete DARPA (that’s “Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency” to all you non-geeks) project left gathering cobwebs
in the basement of a scientist who went missing on his son’s seventh
birthday. Ten years later, the son
(now a high school science prodigy) discovers, dusts off and tries to get the unfinished project working again. Such is the premise of this chaotic, ADD-infused,
frustrating and utterly forgettable mess of a movie.
With its shaky hand-held camerawork,
PA’s frequently shifting POV may induce nausea to those unused to the style. If anything, PA makes a strong case that this
overused method should be put to rest once-and-for-all, 16 years after the
movie which started this trend about another project, that of “Blair Witch.” Long story short, at various parts of the
movie we see a group of five teenagers use the time machine to play pranks on their
unknowing selves (so as not to violate the “time-travel paradox”), for "do overs"
to pre-empt a teacher’s questions, and go to the Lollapalooza music festival
which occurred three months prior before realizing that they created a ripple effect with their
juvenile time-traveling shenanigans and tried to undo their mistakes or
recreate missed romantic moments such as a simple kiss.
Unlike another shaky cam movie in
the same mold, 2012’s ‘Chronicle’ starring Dane DeHaan, PA lacks the character development and good storytelling to pull it off. It’s just
a disposable flick about a group of teens who decided to have some fun with their time machine, none
of whom are remotely interesting enough for us to really care about.
Grade: C
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