Netflix And Chill: Project Power (2020)

Although I liked the look of Project Power when it first came out, I never had it too high on my list of prioritized viewings. Despite a twist on the idea, it was basically another superhero movie, and we have certainly had more than our fair share of those throughout the last decade. Still, I was always going to get to it eventually. Today was the day. 

There’s a new drug on the street. Once you activate and swallow it, you can gain incredible power, but just for five minutes. Everyone can have a different reaction though. Some may become impervious to physical damage, some may burst into flames, some can become a human chameleon. There are also some people who just immediately explode. Like any drug, not every experience is guaranteed to end well. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a New Orleans cop trying to fight back against those using the drug, and he does this by occasionally taking it himself (rendering him pretty invulnerable for five minutes). His supplier is Robin (Dominique Fishback), a young woman doing whatever it takes to get the money needed to help her sick mother. Robin is eventually targeted by Art (Jamie Foxx), an ex-soldier who claims that he is working his way up the supply chain to find his daughter. Whether working together, or working against one another, these three people will end up trying to fight against some villains that have no qualms about powering themselves up for a fight.

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (who have had a varied filmography for years now, from Catfish to a couple of Paranormal Activity movies, from the fun of the Australian Psycho short to Nerve), this is fairly entertaining and predictable fare that actually manages to make good use of the gimmick at the heart of it. Writer Mattson Tomlin doesn’t necessarily have the same range of experience as Joost or Schulman, but he has a few projects tucked away in his filmography that feature other interesting ideas he has now been able to refine and mix into something with a bit more widespread appeal. The superpowers are fun to watch, but the action and thrills are all lifted slightly by the relationships that develop between main characters.

Fishback is decent enough in her role, struggling sometimes to hold her own alongside the veteran players, but always likable, and quite believable, while Foxx and Gordon-Levitt both seem to enjoy themselves in different ways. Foxx gets to do his tough act he can do so well, but also shows himself as a man unable to ease his pain or rest until he finds his daughter, while Gordon-Levitt is a typical good cop who is willing to bend the rules in order to get results and keep his city safe, goddammit. Rodrigo Santoro is a suave dealer, Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly, urgh) has a mercifully small role, and is thankfully on fire for most of his screentime, and you get some time for Courtney B. Vance, Andrene Ward-Hammond, and Amy Landecker, as well as various others ready to help or hinder our leads.

While obviously not able to throw around the kind of money that the likes of Marvel and DC invest in their properties, Project Power doesn't feel too cheap. There are some good special effects throughout, and one or two not so good ones, and the whole thing feels refreshingly well-paced and lean when compared to the more bloated and interconnected jigsaw pieces that we've seen in cinemas recently. The earliest scenes are the least interesting, getting everything set up for the plot and characters, but it soon gets going, really settling into the fun action thriller it wants to be when Foxx comes onscreen, his first encounter with a fiery foe proving to be a real highlight.

Will this be a decent enough alternative for those suffering superhero movie fatigue? I doubt it. But, if you have taken a break from the established names and properties, you may just end up enjoying this as much as I did. It's nothing spectacular, but it's a decent enough flick to spend some time with if you like the leads and the sound of the concept.

7/10

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