Nerve was a high-concept, fast-paced look at thrill-seekers and the lengths they would go to for fame and fortune. For Project Power, filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman take that idea and apply it to the world of superheroes and super-abilities – what lengths would one go to for 5-mins of pure power?
From The Old Guard to Project Power, Netflix’s recent endeavours seem to be a sign of the times; the former was the studio’s take on a comic book property while the latter is a microcosm for the industry’s own insatiable appetite for these kinds of movies. In Joost and Shulman’s latest, Power is a drug – a pill, to be precise – that grants its consumer 5-minutes of superpowers. The abilities differ between users but range from invisibility to super strength, indestructibility and everything in-between. When the drug threatens to go viral, an ex-soldier (Jamie Foxx) teams with a cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and a street-smart teen (Dominique Fishback) to find the source of the pill and stop Power from endangering millions of lives.
On paper, it’s a high-concept story that dissects the current superhero fad interestingly while also making for an entertaining original film from Netflix. However, in execution, it’s anything but – a trite, shopworn narrative riddled with genre tropes and mawkish screenwriting and only the occasional good set-piece. A lot of this stems from the screenplay from Mattson Tomlin – best known, recently, for co-writing Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman. For a film that is supposedly so action-packed, a lot of Project Power‘s runtime is just quite un-involving and dull.
That being said, there is still some fun to be had with how ridiculous an endeavour Project Power can become at times. While Fishback is strong as the young Robin, Gordon-Levitt and Foxx both give very overcooked performances that don’t fit the serious world Joost and Schulman strive to create – so over-the-top and self-aggrandising that the performances are comedic. They really commit to their roles. The visual effects look unfinished but the directing duo craft such gigantic action sequences that it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the sheer size and silliness of them – a chase between Gordon-Levitt’s Frank and an invisible bank robber is a particular highlight. Project Power lacks the depth it needs to truly make its premise work; however, there is certainly fun to be had from just how over-the-top the whole thing is. It may be bad, but at least it is entertainingly so.
Project Power
Summary
There is still some fun to be had though Project Power lacks the depth it needs to truly make its premise work
