Project Almanac

Director: Dean Israelite
Writers: Jason Pagan, Andrew Deutschman
Stars: Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner
Strengths: Effects and storytelling
Weakness: Lack of coherent plot, not everyone will enjoy 'found-footage' style 
Runtime: 106 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5

Plot: As a group of friends discover plans for a time machine, they build it and use it to fix their problems and for personal gain. But as the future falls apart with disasters, and each of them disappear little by little, they must travel back to the past to make sure they never invent the machine or face the destruction of humanity.

Review: Much like Chronicle, this film profiles exactly what would happen when you give teenagers certain powers. In Chronicle it was super powers and in Project Almanac, it's the ability to travel through time. There is nothing really new in this movie that you haven't seen before, and the tech isn't really explained very well. But, the sci-fi jargon isn't really the main focus of the story. The film does a good job in developing the primary character, David Raskin, a genius aspiring to get into MIT. He and his friends are in the ride of their lives when they discover how to build a time machine. It is an interesting movie with some good special effects. Given that all the actors are newcomers, it's pretty well acted out as well. The chemistry between David and Jessie brings the story home at the end, and the audience can relate to the mistakes David makes. Watch it – wouldn't you do the same thing? There were a couple of plot holes but there were also some funny nods to movies such as Back to the Future. You remember the scene where Doc Brown is trying to get two electric cables to connect? This movie will also remind people of the superb low-budget 'Primer' which covers some of the same ground, and also Minutemen. Also, Almanac had some good jokes, which many movies seem to leave out. The 'found-footage' camera work doesn't work here as well as it did with Chronicle, and there will be a lot of people who will think this would be better with conventional cinematography. But to some, this filming style with all the jumping about, whirling, juddering and flicking etc. will make the events of the film all the more real. It's a passable movie for those who only watch the best movies of the year, but for lovers of sci-fi movies, this is a must watch.

Reviewed by Mohammad Haque