Project Power movie had potential, no doubt about that. Unfortunately, it throws it away as it moves towards the second half of its run time. The movie starts with a promise, but as you move on, it becomes a badly produced superhero action flick. The directors of the movie Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman try their best to come up with an above-average product, but sadly with no good backing from the writing department, it ends up making this movie quite forgettable.
The Comic Age
There are so many superhero movies lately, that at one point you feel it’s all just too much now. There is chaos out there regarding how many superhero movies get helmed. However, only movies with great stories and production to back it up survive. Also, if it falls under a big production house, chances are people will relate to it, given its comic background.
Unfortunately, Project Power doesn’t stand in any of such categories. The movie revolves around a former soldier busting out an illegal industry making ‘Power’ pills that deliver superpowers for five minutes. He teams up with a cop and a drug dealer to shut the whole thing down.
Acting Performances
The good part of Project Power is the performances by the actors. With Jamie Foxx imparting legitimacy to the protagonist’s role. Right beside him is Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a cop who appears to be fulfilling his ‘what-if’ role of Robin from The Dark Knight Returns with limited stuff to do. However, Dominique Fishback plays the actual Robin in this movie playing a Power dealer who also happens to be a rap artist on the sides.
Foxx leads the dance sticking to the storyline like the pro he is, while the rest of the crew dangle around him supporting him aptly. When you waddle your way towards the climax, you wait for something extraordinary to happen but the movie finishes in just one production set. Also, you feel that what it was trying to culminate into eventually merely falls quite short owing to some poor and limited action.
The Writing
You immediately feel the lacklustre in the screenplay although the way the story builds is quite exciting. It tries to achieve the standards of a good superhero movie. However, you realize soon that the movie isn’t taking itself too seriously when the story limits itself to the production design. Had it had the backing of a big organization like Marvel or DC, it would have probably done better. But it tries hard to be something given the things at hand. Unfortunately, there is nothing memorable that is going to last in your brain for long.
Conclusion
Although the director of the movie has claimed that there were open pieces that could be explored in the future, a sequel so far isn’t in the talks. I can see this movie getting forgotten easily. I had high hopes for it, given the pairing up of Jamie and RegularJoe but unfortunately the opportunity to do something extraordinary was missed.
Project Power
Pros
- Good build up
- Good performances by the cast
Cons
- Bad writing
- Poor screenplay
