Project Power

Project Power stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and new comer Domonique Fishback. The film begins in New Orleans where a drug dealer, a police officer, and a former soldier join forces to save Jamie Foxx's character daughter. The daughter has super powers, making her a perfect choice to experiment on while having no need herself for the pills distributed on the street that gives the user superpowers for five minutes. Yes sounds dangerously stupid and fun at the same time. The user won't know what power they will receive and/or if they will die or not using the drug apparently developed by the government for the military secretly. All of the normal today cliches are littered throughout of the movie. The cute black kid that comes from the hood, sells drugs, and is failing in school all plays painfully familiar. Pulling the black card for the audience wouldn't be complete without a couple of full on rap performances. Lord knows white people only think black kids in movies are only good for sad stories, rapping, and sports. Producer Eric Newman, of Bright and Robocop shows no growth in bringing together the right pieces for a successful film. The overuse in Fishback's character is an attempt to pander to the black audiences. No way a 14 year old should be selling drugs to a police officers or going on extremely dangerous missions with them. I know the white guys in charge at Netflix are definitely out of touch with the black community. The film sprinkles in a rap soundtrack and a Machine Gun Kelly cameo, but the viewers are still not transported to New Orleans.

The film is beautifully shot at times, while the special effects are so-so in other instances. Foxx and Levitt are naturally funny and it comes across on film. Foxx's character is written as a trauma filled ex special ops military commander with unspecified powers that his daughter can heal. The daughters power reveal was a lackluster, omg, I knew it the entire film moment. Foxx doesn't pull his character off cleanly but is entertaining whenever on screen. The story is full of plot holes, but the pacing and action of the film saves it from being a doomed production. The antagonist of Project Power is a major let down without powers. Amy Landecker's dry but cold hearted character definitely could represent every crooked senator, representative, and rich government official protected under the disguise of law of today. The attempt to make the Fishback's character seem cute instead of a pre-teen adolescent is a fundamental mistake in her character arch. Her home troubles can't be fixed with kind words of encouragement from a super powered Jamie Foxx. Not sure of how safe the public is while police officer Levitt is loose on the streets of the ghetto. There could be a sequel but would Fishback and Levitt be needed for it?

I rate this movie: Entertaining with 3.5/5 movie tickets

 

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