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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
The newest Netflix film Project Power has hit the streaming service, and it’s everything we could ask for in a down-to-Earth superhero property. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Nerve) and written by The Batman scribe Mattson Tomlin, the film follows a young girl named Robin Reilly (Dominique Fishback) as she helps a stranger named The Major (Jamie Foxx) and a New Orleans police officer, Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), take down the new drug scene in the city while searching for The Major’s kidnapped daughter Tracy (Kyanna Simone Simpson).
The plot of the film seems to take a page from the hit animated series Ben 10, that is, in which the users of the drug “Power” summons superhuman abilities extracted from the DNA of nonhuman species for a limited amount of time. Tomlin has spoken out before on how the screenplay was accepted by neither DC Comics nor Marvel, and it just happens to work together on Netflix.
The film has some interesting imagery from the start and Biblical allusions to the end (such as the Genesis boat, Goliath, a resemblance to Noah’s Ark, etc.), with a vital message on taking advantage of the system that takes advantage of you. In one scene, Foxx’s character says, “The system is designed to swallow you whole. You gotta find out what you do better than anybody else and rock that.” Here, we are taught that the Power needs to be for the people and not the governed, that the system of control needs to be destroyed from within.
This action science-fiction film has neat cinematography and a great soundtrack, both of which are always worth returning to. Foxx’s and Fishback’s characters are given interesting backstories, although Gordon-Levitt’s Frank would have needed more development in the script. These actors perform well in their roles, with Foxx portraying a complicated role as the man in search of his child. How his character first meets and interacts with Fishback’s Robin could have been handled better. Having come from The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, respectively, Gordon-Levitt and Foxx prove themselves to be an unstoppable force.
Project Power holds a message on substance abuse that knows what it wants to convey but needs to be strengthened a bit. Consumers of Power celebrate the feeling the drug brings but only few times demonstrate the dangers that come with addiction. In the end, this film is about humans and their inherent desire to fulfill their potential. As one drug supplier character says, “Stop wishing, start doing. Find your power.” The way the “potential” angle is explored here is better than (if not the same as) the 2014 Luc Besson film Lucy, featuring Scarlett Johansson.
The intense action sequences, concrete plot, good frame-by-frame cinematography, incredible visual effects, and excellent music have great promise of a memorable Netflix movie.
7/10
Have you seen this film yet? If so, what did you think? Let us know! For more Mattson Tomlin, Netflix, Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, action-, science-fiction-, and superhero-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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