Project Power takes place in a world where an illegal drug gives its user superpowers for five minutes—three strangers team up to stop it
Quick cut: Project Power loses steam almost as quickly as the drug at the center of it. Though it’s visually dazzling, its paint-by-the-numbers plot is exacerbated by hamfisted political commentary and uninspired characters—even Jamie Foxx can’t muster up enough star power to save the day.
Chloé Zhao makes Nomadland‘s melancholic but hopeful story of nomads traversing the American West a stunningly complex character study of life on the margins of society.
Netflix’s strategy for its blockbusters has settled on reinvigorating genres lost to the poor economics of theatrical distribution. In particular, they’ve made strides to save the romantic comedy, broad comedy, and now, the modestly budgeted action. Last month, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard impressed me with its balance of story, character, and adept action that left me wanting more. The same can’t be said for Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost’s Project Power.
We’re immediately dropped into a near-future New Orleans with a cold open that teases a drug called “Power” that gives the user a unique superpower that only lasts for five minutes—still that’s more than enough time to cause much trouble. A mysterious distributor who we come to know as the drug’s creator Biggie (Rodrigo Santoro) gives a group of dealers access to the drug, including Newt (Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly).
As the web of connections spirals out, we meet Robin (Dominique Fishback), Newt’s cousin, who helps him distribute the drug. One of her customers is Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an NOPD cop that gains the bulletproof skin when he takes the pill. After using the drug to thwart a bank robbery, Frank is put on leave, but not before his boss (Courtney B. Vance) gives him a tip about the drug’s origins.
That tip is Art (Jamie Foxx), an ex-soldier who faces off with Newt to find out exactly who Biggie is, which leads him to Robin. Once the trio finds themselves on the same side, they work together to find the drug’s origin. Or that’s what the movie is telling us at least.
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The story is muddled by a sloppy plot that is too disorganized and too simple to ever truly lose yourself in it. It feels as if there is so much to explore in the world it creates—different powers, the effect of the drug on the streets. However, instead of leaning into its fantasy elements, it finds itself lost in a completely formulaic police procedural that is so standard you can call each plot point before it happens.
Though I had a similar issue with Netflix’s The Old Guard, the movie was able to fill its plot void with characters that demanded attention and, more importantly, sympathy. Project Power instead boils its characters down to archetypes that feel stereotypical to the point of regression—the bereaved father doing anything to get his daughter back, a teen from a poor background dreaming of something more, the no-holds-barred cop who’ll do anything to get the job done.
Each of those archetypes could be forgive if, perhaps, the movie found some thematic value to their circumstances. Being set in New Orleans opens up the opportunity for interesting discussions on race and poverty in relation to Hurricane Katrina’s continues effects. While the movie does make mention of it, it almost feels ham fisted in as if to achieve some quota for political commentary rather than actually engaging with it.
There is so much potential in the premise and world of Project Power. And even if just one of the elements I mentioned—plot, character, theme—were successful it’d be the brainless but fun-to-watch blockbuster that Netflix was clearly looking to create. Instead, it just feels brainless. No amount of super-powered drug could save it.
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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
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