Project Power (United States, 2020)
August 18, 2020
Underwritten yet nevertheless enjoyable on a visceral level, Project Power is the latest Netflix film to use a familiar template:
start with an intriguing premise, sign a bankable star (or two), employ an exotic
(or at least non-standard) location (in this case, New Orleans), and let the action
ignite. The movie contains its share of strong moments, many of which are
elevated as a result of the performances by Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback,
but the story as a whole feels incomplete, almost as if the filmmakers had
positioned this as a six-part miniseries but, when granted only two hours,
found it difficult to condense their tale.
With superhero movies being all the rage (and in danger of
becoming an overexposed genre), it’s no surprise that many action/thrillers
seeking to appeal to a younger demographic find a way to incorporate comic book
elements into the narrative fabric. At its heart, Project Power is an
old-school cop movie. One character is a maverick detective attempting to bring
down a drug lord. Another is a father seeking to find and free his daughter,
who has been kidnapped by the drug runners. And the third is a young girl who
deals because she has no other means to support a sick mother. The “secret
sauce” is that the drug isn’t cocaine, heroin, or some new narcotic. Instead,
it’s a technologically advanced capsule that, once swallowed, allows a person’s
inner superhero power to manifest for five minutes. The catch: you don’t know
what your power is until you try it and, although some are cool (control of
fire or frost, super-speed, Hulk-like strength, bulletproof skin), others can
be fatal.
Jamie Foxx is Art, a desperate ex-military operative whose
daughter has been kidnapped by the tech drug cartel because she has shown the
ability to access her powers permanently, rather than for only five minute
intervals. They want her for medical experimentation and take her when she won’t
come willingly. Art employs a scorched earth policy in search of her so the
cartel starts the rumor that he’s the one behind the threat. To that end, a New
Orleans PD Captain (Courtney B. Vance) sends one of his most tenacious
officers, Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), undercover to find and (if possible)
apprehend Art. Caught between the two men is Robin (Dominique Fishback), a
teenager with a gift for rap (but not for her high school subjects) who deals
the drug to make ends meet. She is Frank’s supplier and becomes Art’s target
when he wants an “in” to the distribution chain.
Project Power could be one of three movies. It could
be an offbeat coming-of-age story about Robin – that would most likely be the
most interesting route. It could be a traditional cops-and-bad guys film
focused on Frank. Or it could be a Payback-sort of narrative about the
vigilante father killing his way up the food chain to find his daughter and the
people responsible for taking her from him. One problem with Project Power
is that it tries to be all three and, as a result, doesn’t work well as any.
There’s too much going on and not enough time is spent developing any of the characters.
Foxx is fully committed, not treating this like the lesser
popcorn flick that it is and therefore lending an element of gravitas to his
scenes. His presentation of Art when he snatches Robin off the street and
throws her in his trunk is unsettling. Desperation oozes from his pores and we
sense that, if pushed, he might kill the girl. For her part, Dominique Fishback
shows poise and energy playing a thinly-written role. (Distilled to its
essence, she’s a sidekick.) She can rap with the best of them, although this is
more of a personality quirk than a defining characteristic. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
seems less invested than Foxx; he was more convincing in his other recent
direct-to-streaming video entry, 7500. There is no real villain, although
I suppose Rodrigo Santoro could serve that function in a pinch even though his
total screen time is under 10 minutes.
Project Power falls into the new category of impressively mounted productions designed primarily for home viewing. As such, it doesn’t have the same requirements as a theatrically released film with a similar pedigree. People will watch movies like this if they have a good hook and can hold their attention, both of which are true in Project Power’s case. Things that are missing – like a strong, coherent story and well-developed characters – aren’t deal-breakers when there’s no trip to a theater or ticket price involved. This movie is passable popcorn entertainment – a two-hour distraction in the age of COVID-19 that won’t stand the test of time but was never intended to.
Project Power (United States, 2020)
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Courtney B. Vance, Amy Landecker
Screenplay: Mattson Tomlin
Cinematography: Michael Simmonds
Music: Joseph Trapanese
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
U.S. Release Date: 2020-08-14
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Drugs)
Genre: Action/Thriller
Subtitles: none
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1
- Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
- (There are no more better movies of Dominique Fishback)
- (There are no more worst movies of Dominique Fishback)
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