Weekend Watch: Project Power
Superpowers with a pill-popping twist
Image credit: Netflix
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Netflix takes another run at the superhero genre after The Old Guard.
Superpowers have been everywhere in cinema for years now. Sparked by the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other attempts to bring abilities to the screen, every studio is looking for its piece of the action. Netflix is no different – it already has the likes of The Old Guard and Raising Dion, and here comes another entry, Project Power.
Written by Mattson Tomlin, who has an even heftier profile heroic project on the way thanks to his work with Matt Reeves on The Batman, Project Power finds a path into the genre that crossbreeds it with the brain-unlocking pills of Limitless. In this case, the little yellow, glowing capsules give whoever takes them some type of power for five minutes at a time. Problem is, you don’t know what yours is going to present as until you take it. Some become incredibly strong or set themselves on fire, others simply see their heart explode out of their chest. As a metaphor for the dicey nature of drug use, it’s a little on the nose, but the film handles other topics with more subtlety (more on that later).
The drug is sweeping through the streets of New Orleans, where residents are reporting strange happenings. Local cop Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, on an action kick lately) is trying to track it down, allied to young dealer Robin (The Hate U Give/ The Deuce’s Dominique Fishback). Then there’s Art (Jamie Foxx), who has his own personal reasons for hunting the people behind the pharmaceuticals. Frank’s frustrated because every time he comes across someone using the stuff, someone above his captain’s pay grade shuts the investigation down. And Art? He’s desperate, slaughtering (sometimes indirectly) low-level goons on his mission. Robin’s caught in the middle of all of this, though she proves she can hold her own. She’s part of one of the movie’s stronger elements, taking on racism and rap in one quick scene that is more effective than many of the bigger set pieces on display here.
Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman deliver some strong visuals, even if they’re a little too much in love with the style and don’t always bring out the character dynamics. While Robin has an arc, and Art’s all about his mission, Frank’s personality rarely registers despite JGL’s best efforts. He has a few fun little touches, but he’s mostly just the Tough Cop With A Heart. Likewise, Foxx has to bring more layers to Art than are really on the page. Fishback, though, runs with Robin, whether she’s rapping, panicking or sassing her co-stars. It’s a bold turn and while Fishback isn’t a newcomer, this is another role that will see her career develop.
Outside of the main trio, it’s largely a collection of stock villains, military henchmen and random hoodlums who have different powers. Most of them we’ve seen before on other, bigger canvases, and the film is sometimes let down by a few dodgy, cheap-looking effects sequences. Also an issue? the climatic final action scene, which suffers the same chaotic geography as in earlier clashes and is wrapped up with a deus ex pharmacum.
Still, Project Power is enough of a fun diversion to warrant a look. Just say no to superpower drugs, kids.
Project Power is on Netflix now.