Project Power (Netflix) Movie Review

I guess you just gotta ask yourself one question, punk, what's your power?

by Casimir Harlow

Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt unsurprisingly elevate Netflix's latest superpowered product, a fun enough, rap-fuelled bit of typically baggy but pleasantly bombastic Friday night frivolity.

So this week Netflix adds Foxx and Levitt to their list of high profile names that they hope will help sell their often cookie-cutter productions, and it's a halfway decent gamble. Post-Amazing Spider-Man 2, Foxx hasn't had quite as much high profile work, but is never less than engaging, as was evident in the recent, fun but pretty-much straight-to-video actioner Sleepless. Levitt was practically prepped to be the next Batman in Dark Knight Rises, but he's also already accepted his straight-to-streaming fate with Amazon's 7500. Project Power, without these two leads, would likely be more painfully, tiresomely generic, but they work separately - and together - to keep the piece fun, bringing in a rap-laden Dominique Fishback (excellent in The Duece) to give it a refreshingly lyrical style.

 

The two leads work together to keep the piece fun  

When drug dealers start peddling something a little different on the vulnerable streets of New Orleans - a pill which gives you a random superpower for 5 minutes - a cop prepared to pop the pills himself just to even the playing field is set off on the trail of an elusive man called The Major, who may be behind this all. But The Major has his own agenda and with a young out-of-her-depth high school drug dealer caught in the middle of it all, the three may have to find a way to work together to uncover the conspiracy that could soon envelop the world.

Project Power

Project Power makes the most of its fun setpieces. The unpredictability of the powers leads to hit-and-miss (but mostly hit) action sequences that are largely imaginative in their depiction of individuals who span the spectrum of fire to ice, bullet-proof to, well, just exploding. Sure, the invisible/bendy-light guy is a bit goofy, but Foxx's introduction is a very literal blast, and they clearly blow the entire budget on a single slo-mo shot in the final act, whilst Levitt charmingly channels Eastwood's Dirty Harry (in a very meta style) to fun effect. Fishback doesn't need any pills to steal the show though, showcasing her superpower in some fabulously sharp rap moments which are suprisingly well integrated into the comic-book style feature.

It's pretty lightweight and frivolous, barely paying even lip-service to the ideas of morality and consequence, but Netflix aren't exactly known for their subtlety in productions, and there's a very pleasant through-line of family, loss and sacrifice which does a particularly good job at informing Foxx's character, giving it just enough meat to hold together the innovative action sequences, and to keep you engaged even when a little bit more judicious editing could have left this a leaner animal.

 

Netflix's equivalent to Amazon's The Boys  

The Dolby Vision (and Atmos) - laced visuals are pretty impressive too, and, for once, the image is far from too dark, instead revelling in the superpowered special effects every chance it gets. Hardly completely rewriting the rulebook when it comes to Netflix's mantra for producing consistently average productions, Project Power is still a cut above, basically amounting to Netflix's equivalent to Amazon's The Boys, only rolled up into a two hour movie, and without as much dark wit. For those who enjoyed The Old Guard, it's probably perfect Friday night entertainment and even those who didn't should probably make some time in their diary to watch Foxx and Levitt do their thing.

Scores

Verdict

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7

7
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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