I heard someone mention that Ryan Reynolds once again plays "Ryan Reynolds" here...but simply as another character. Welp, that was right on the mark.
What we have is a slight rip off of Disney's "The Kid" concept where the older protagonist encounters his annoying younger, smart-aleck self...while also tossing in a time-travel element to the plot just to shake things up a bit. Ditch any form of plausibility and you might enjoy the ride. However for me, seeing this once was enough. The initial first act managed to hold my attention, even though I found the child-version of RR to be an irritating little snot. I know that character element was purposely woven into the film as a plot device, but the little kid still got on my nerves after a while. I got the feeling he was trying too hard. Then, of course, there was Catherine Keener's selection to play the antagonist, which...I'm sorry but I really couldn't buy. Perhaps she's been typecast in my mind as the sweet and mellow-like mom-next-door, so the sultry, evil Dr. No transformation here just didn't ring true to me. And even RR's supposed relationship with Zoe Saldana in the film just seemed forced. I couldn't swallow any of the chemistry between them. Their affection seemed tacked on rather than natural.
All in all, take the movie at face value and don't try to dissect it on too many levels. At the end of the day, it's a kid's film, and I'm sure that's exactly who the producers intentionally targeted.
What we have is a slight rip off of Disney's "The Kid" concept where the older protagonist encounters his annoying younger, smart-aleck self...while also tossing in a time-travel element to the plot just to shake things up a bit. Ditch any form of plausibility and you might enjoy the ride. However for me, seeing this once was enough. The initial first act managed to hold my attention, even though I found the child-version of RR to be an irritating little snot. I know that character element was purposely woven into the film as a plot device, but the little kid still got on my nerves after a while. I got the feeling he was trying too hard. Then, of course, there was Catherine Keener's selection to play the antagonist, which...I'm sorry but I really couldn't buy. Perhaps she's been typecast in my mind as the sweet and mellow-like mom-next-door, so the sultry, evil Dr. No transformation here just didn't ring true to me. And even RR's supposed relationship with Zoe Saldana in the film just seemed forced. I couldn't swallow any of the chemistry between them. Their affection seemed tacked on rather than natural.
All in all, take the movie at face value and don't try to dissect it on too many levels. At the end of the day, it's a kid's film, and I'm sure that's exactly who the producers intentionally targeted.