Starring
Jamie Foxx
Joseph
Gordon-Levitt
Dominique
Fishback
Directed by
Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Project Power is
a Netflix movie that doesn’t aim high enough to make you go WOW!!! Nor is it so
bad that you’ll turn it off. It’s a standard 5/10 film that doesn’t try to be
more. Essentially, it’s a superhero movie poorly written by Mattson Tomlin, who
also happens to be on the writing board for the upcoming The Batman movie. The
film had so much potential from the start but just gave up halfway through.
One of the
biggest letdowns for me is the writing and directing. The movie felt like I was
watching something from the middle, as if a huge chunk of the beginning was
missing. They tried to fill the gaps with flashbacks and backstory through The
Major (Jamie Foxx), but it didn’t work. I kept feeling like I had missed the
actual start of the movie.
The story
introduces us to the power pill, which gives you superpowers for just five
minutes after you take it. The makers of the pill distribute it to drug dealers
for free, letting them sell it however they want. Soon, New Orleans becomes a
hotbed of people with superpowers doing weird things. Some are invisible, some
invincible, and most use the drug to commit crimes.
We then meet
Robin (Dominique Fishback), a dealer of the drug. During a sale, she almost
gets into trouble but is rescued by an officer named Frank (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt). Frank only saves her because he wants to buy the pill himself.
Next, we meet
The Major, who is hell-bent on stopping the distribution of the pill. He
kidnaps Robin to help him track down the boss behind it all.
The movie tries
way too hard to tug on your emotional strings, to the point where it gets
annoying. Can someone explain how Robin and The Major even managed to form an
emotional connection? The Major kidnaps her and drags her into his dangerous
quest to stop the pill’s creators, almost getting her killed multiple times.
She’s terrified and wants to escape, but as soon as he gets hurt, she suddenly
feels attached. This shift happens so fast that it feels like yet another part
of the story is missing.
Acting-wise, the
movie benefits from having Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Their
performances are solid, but there are so many moments where it feels like
you’ve missed a scene. Even when Frank connects with his captain, it happens so
effortlessly that I thought, “Did I miss something again?”
You can catch
this movie on Netflix. Since there’s a lack of good movies these days, Project
Power is passable—it won’t make you turn off your screen, but it also won’t
leave a lasting impression.
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