'2050. Time travel exists. You just don't know it yet.'

There's both good and bad in "The Adam Project," the big-budget Netflix time-travel adventure starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular Adam. It's got wonky CGI, including a horrendous de-aging job for one actor, and scenes swiped from better sci-fi movies

But it totally deserves a sequel.

Let me explain: Reynolds is Adam Reed, a fighter pilot from the future who steals a timejet so he could travel to the past and meet up with his 12-year-old self. He's on a mission that comes out in dribs and drabs: Adam needs to save his wife and stop the creation of time travel tech because the year 2050 is hell. "Think Terminator. That's the future on a good day," Adam explains in one of the movie's narrative shortcuts, telling instead of showing.

We first see the older Adam using a wormhole to travel back in time on his stolen timejet before cutting to younger Adam, played by newcomer Walker Scobell, who is getting bullied in school. Right off the bat, we know Scobell was perfect for this role: smart-mouthed but too small to defend himself, like a pint-sized Deadpool.

"Did you order a bully starter kit on Amazon?" he asks one of the bullies.

Young Adam's father had just died so he wears his sarcasm like a shield, even to his long-suffering mom Ellie played by Jennifer Garner. When older Adam (Reynolds) finally shows up, in a sequence that echoes Steven Spielberg's "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" complete with a canine, we recognize the same wit except it's older and more weary, the shield had only gotten heavier.

It can't be an action-adventure film though without any action and "The Adam Project" has lots, complete with expensive soundtrack. A fight scene set to Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" is a particular high moment, as well as one excellent use of a futuristic drone.

When Adam's wife Laura (Zoe Saldana) finally arrives, it's like flipping a switch: you know you're in for a good time. Older Adam has got a bag of brand-new gizmos that add to the fun including a knockoff lightsaber that sets up the best reuse of a Deadpool joke. One caveat: the action does feel like it's cribbing too much off "Star Wars," particularly the chase scene on Endor, so viewer beware.

There's also a sense that the movie was shot in the middle of the pandemic. Except for one scene set in a conference room, there are absolutely no shots where a crowd of people are standing next to each other. So what we get are scenes set in isolation: a house in the woods, a lakeside, a motel, and a remote building with absolutely zero security, not even a guard dog.

We take crowd shots for granted in our movies so I was curious why there were none. "The Adam Project" was shot in Vancouver in November 2020 so that isolation adds an interesting footnote on the production.

It all leads up to a finale that feels like standard-issue Marvel ending boilerplate, complete with one obligatory Avenger, Mark Ruffalo, who plays Adams' dad. We have a forgettable CGI battle and the aforementioned horrible de-aging job on Catherine Keener who plays the film's baddie. Exposition before exit, stage left.

Except the best part of this movie is in the ending, forgettable CGI notwithstanding. Director Shawn Levy and Reynolds, who both made "Free Guy," have talked about getting inspiration from Amblin-era movies such as "E.T." and "Back to the Future." There's bits and pieces of that here and there in "The Adam Project" but I can't help but think those were much better movies than this one.

What "The Adam Project" does really well is mine the beating heart of this thing: the best time travel is one steeped in betterment and healing, not nostalgia. I already forgot the fight scenes in this movie but two scenes still cling to the mind when you're done. It's Ruffalo and Saldana, not Reynolds, who give the story the heft it needs. After hilariously talking about timelines, Ruffalo then throws you for a loop by giving a wistful performance as Adams' dad. Ruffalo wears grief really well and it is his final scene where Levy dares to move out of the safe zone and pull on the heartstrings. Ditto for Saldana, who has one scene that makes you go: I want to see where this is going.

So does "The Adam Project" deserve a sequel? Absolutely, if the cast were game for it. We've got the tech, the intro, two Ryan Reynolds for the price of one and a love story that needs a follow-up.

Now that the preamble is out of the way, they can really go in interesting directions with the time travel, including a possible twist in the original spec script by T.S. Nowlin that was discarded for this movie.

Plus, we need to know if Adam's got a brand new bag of gizmos.

Make it so, Netflix.

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