Review of Project Almanac (2015) by Belinda N — 12 Feb 2015

Michael Bay has proven to be a very strong presence in Hollywood. Whether you want to say he's a shit director or not, one thing is for sure, he knows how to deal with special effects in his movies. But this isn't about that, this is about a movie he produced and had a hand in re-editing before release. That movie is Project Almanac.

This movie was supposed to come out last year and it was titled Welcome To Yesterday. I am guessing that the final product wasn't that great so they went in and did some fixing and even gave a title change to it. Now, mostly what Bay has produced only has been horror movies and horror remakes. Some good to decent to others being complete crap. This was interesting because it deals with time travel. Oh we've never seen that before..... When I originally saw a trailer last year I was unamused because it was too much Ike that plot to butterfly effect. Albeit with a group of teens with a time traveling device rather than one with an unexplainable power.

I'll get right down to it. Even though my level of what I expected was very low I came out of my early screening impressed more than expected. With that said it is still very flawed and ridiculous. One thing that was done right was the concept of time travel and how it could impact the world around you. The problems, though, lie within the script more than anything. The story was smarter than you would think, the characters were well developed and likable, the SFX were well done on a small budget and most of all pretty good actors. The scriptwriters didn't give themselves a benefit of a doubt and relied on typical teen movie antics and cliches. They also rushed heavily towards the end when so much more could have been done. But the biggest issue was the found footage style. It was pointless, forced and nauseating.

Overall it is a smart story with good characters. It is enjoyable enough to watch once if you are lucky to sit far away from the screen to reduce the chance of vomiting.