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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Netflix And Chill: The Lovebirds (2020)

Director Michael Showalter reteams with star Kumail Nanjiani (after their success with The Big Sick) for this comedy thriller that concerns a couple (Nanjiani and Issa Rae) who have the potential end of their relationship interrupted by an untimely murder. Not that there's ever such a thing as a timely murder.

Rae and Nanjiani are two solid leads, even as we meet them in the midst of growing tension. While in their car, a stranger (Paul Sparks) commandeers their vehicle, using it to kill a man on a bicycle that he was chasing, and then flees. Leilani (Rae) and Jibran (Nanjiani) do not want to stick around at the crime scene. They know things look bad for them, which means they need to show some initiative and try to find the killer. This brings them into contact with other bad people (such as Edie, played by Anna Camp), forces them to make up a story as they get friends helping them, and obviously has them reappraising how they view one another.

Written by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, The Lovebirds is a film that doesn't do enough to help the talented leads. The main premise is very familiar, and could be used to add on a whole load of jokes, but it's all put together in a way that feels very paint-by-numbers. There's no tension here, which wouldn't be so bad if the laughs kept coming, but there's also not enough comedy, so little of it that the leads feel restricted by the way the script doesn't let them be as funny as fans know they can be.

Showalter goes through the motions with his direction, but he is equally responsible for failing his leads. Set-pieces are too low-key, the pacing feels off, despite the film coming in at just under the 90-minute mark, and the plot just feels like it's getting in the way of the characters being able to act in a way that could be much more entertaining.

I feel a bit patronising going on about how good both Rae and Najiani are, despite being hampered by the material, but they make the movie watchable. I have liked Nanjiani for a good few years now, but I wasn't familiar with Rae, who works wonderfully both on her own and alongside her co-star. Sparks is fine, with limited screentime, and Camp does her best to steal the scenes that she features in, and Andrene Ward-Hammond is a typically stolid cop trying to catch a criminal as some innocent people complicate the matter more than they should.

I did laugh, now and then, and there's a fun little punchline at the very end of the movie to pay off a small gag from earlier, but I spent most of the runtime just willing The Lovebirds to be better, for me and for the cast. It doesn't manage that. It just manages to be above average. Just. Not far enough above average to make it worth recommending though.

6/10

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