Project Almanac

Project Almanac honestly surprised me. I went to see it hoping to be mildly entertained for a couple of hours, but didn't expect much else. What I got was a film that was extremely fun to watch, albeit mildly inconsistent. While Michael Bay's name has been showcased in the marketing, Project Almanac isn't a Michael Bay film, nor does it feel like one. It does not rely on special effects to tell a story, and isn't chock full of explosions and car crashes. What Project Almanac does right is that it focuses on the characters; and while the time-travel aspect is clearly the center of the movie, the movie concentrates on the character aspect of discovering time travel. How would one react? What would one do with the ability to travel through time? The movie is focused, and doesn't try to cover everything with its narrative. Project Almanac is also funny at times, and plays around with the fun that can be had with the ability to time travel, much like 2012's Chronicle did with superpowers. And like Chronicle, Project Almanac is a found footage movie, which may be off-putting for some viewers. Personally, after the first few minutes of the film, I stopped noticing the handheld camerawork. Given the small budget and lack of star power in the cast the acting was dependable and the lead was surprisingly good in his role, while the supporting cast ranged from good to adequate, with no performance that was "bad" enough to take me out of the movie. While Project Almanac was fun, it had a few minor problems, most prominently its final 10 minutes where the film attempts to wrap everything up. There is a certain plot point that, like a Michael Bay explosion, is completely unnecessary, and upon further reflection, didn't actually do anything to advance the story. To be blunt, the final scene doesn't exactly make a whole lot of sense. It feels as if it is trying to leave the viewer with a question that probably didn't need to be asked. Overall, Project Almanac may have a few flaws but I would be lying if I said this movie wasn't fun to watch; its likable characters and interesting and enjoyable story make it worthwhile.