"Well, I guess you just gotta ask yourself one question. Am I gonna be the guy that makes a bad decision to send the bag man home empty-handed, make the boss get out of bed, start raining hellfire on whoever's responsible? Or am I gonna be the guy who makes a good decision and get the hell out of the goddamn way so we can all get home in time to watch the Saints highlights?"
Directors: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Where Available: Netflix
Summary:
An ex-soldier, a teen and a cop collide in New Orleans as they hunt for the source behind a dangerous new pill that grants users temporary superpowers.
Review:
I watched this movie so that you don't have too.
Don't waste your time watching Project Power. I am pretty sure this is the first Netflix Original that I genuinely disliked. It's actually the first movie I couldn't physically finish. I have literally never not finished a movie before, but there were 30 minutes left and I just could not make myself watch the rest. I honestly could not tell you more than the general premise of the movie.
Casting wise, I was excited: Jamie Foxx (Baby Driver, White House Down, Ray), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight, 500 Days Of Summer, Snowden), and Machine Gun Kelley (The Dirt, Birdbox, Nerve, Big Time Adolescence, The King Of Staten Island). Don't get me wrong, Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are amazing actors, and I love their other work, but this movie just wasn't it. The main point I want to make here is that I wanted more of Machine Gun Kelley. I am a fan of Machine Gun Kelleys music, and when I started seeing him getting cast in more and more Hollywood projects, I was super happy. He is a really great actor, but he was only on screen in Project Power for maybe 3 minutes. His character definitely has the best special effects makeup, with prosthetics covering 95% of his body, taking 5 hours to put on every morning. All this for a 3 minute scene, where he isn't even acting, just screaming while running around on fire. Maybe its just me, but I'm disappointed that we only got 3 minutes of him.
Back to special effects. The one positive thing I have to say about this film is the special effects, costuming, and makeup design. I don't really feel the need to go into the details because it is nothing monumental, but I will include photos so that you can see.
Two small things I want to put out there:
1. It should be illegal for a movie to have a line saying "This isn't a movie, this is real life."
2. Stop casting Casey Neistat in Gen Z targeted action movies. Thank you.
The writers take no risks when it comes to Project Powers themes or characters. They spilled a box of ideas on the floor and picked up the ones that fit together to make the most generic action movie ever. There is a black man who's family was ripped apart after he served for his country, a cop that has to take a drug to feel safe, and nothing else worth the watch. Everything seemed predictable and bland when it should have been unexpected and exciting. Give me some characters that are complex and have depth. Anything else would have worked character wise for me.
One of the worst feelings when watching a movie is knowing that a great idea was thrown down the drain. When I first heard the concept for the movie, I thought it was going to be good. There is a pill that grants humans superpowers for only 5 minutes, but the powers it grants are random. You don't know if you are getting a good pill or a bad pill until you take it for the first time. There is so much more that the directors and writers could have done with this idea, but they ended up writing another dull action movie that we have already seen 100 times.
Honestly, I think I could have written a better movie with the same concept, cast, and budget. If you are looking for a better action movie where people have powers and try to hunt the source of a dangerous drug ruining their world, watch Code 8 on Netflix. Ironically, there is no power in Project Power.
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