Project Power – R – 2020 – Fantasy/Action – 1h51m Movie Review

by Douglas Montgomery II

Caught Netflix’s Project Power over the past weekend, and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. With the summer absent of summer movies with superheroes due to the pandemic, a movie based on people with powers was a welcome substitute for my mid-August weekend movie viewing. Boasting a $85.1 million dollar budget, and a cast including Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Courtney B. Vance, Dominique Fishback, and Kyanna Simon Simpson, this Netflix original is certainly one of the streaming giant’s better flicks.

Foxx is Art, a former soldier who was previously experimented on for the purpose of granting people super powers simply by taking a pill, which is now being pushed out on the streets of New Orleans. It’s those streets where we find cop Frank (Levitt), and teen drug pusher Robin (Fishback). Foxx is desperately in search of someone, Frank’s investigating the drug and the users, and Robin is pushing the drug for money, but has no idea what she’s really involved in. I eagerly anticipated the three of them meeting. In the meantime, there’s some great action that leads to their ultimate coming together as we see exactly what happens when people take the pill. Both Jamie Foxx and Josheph Gordon-Levitt are both just great to watch, not just for the action but some pretty comical moments as well. It’s Fishback who really impresses, whether spitting rap lyrics or riding a fine line between black girl teenager and novice drug pusher, this young lady got skills.

Set against the gritty streets of New Orleans, and some hot hip hop, Project Power had a 90’s movie charm, and visually reminded me of the first Blade movie. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, known for Paranormal Activity, paced this movie well, kept the action fast and intense, and sprinkled some comedy in that was funny but didn’t detract. I was highly entertained. The first movie I’ve seen in awhile that made me want to watch again. There are some plot elements that seem to occur simply for convenience and to drive the movie forward, and circumstances that you could neatly tie in a bow, but it really didn’t matter, this movie is fun!

Project Power’s special effects were done very well, except for one particular scene where the prostethics (I assume) were so silly, it was laughable, but it still didn’t matter, I was having a good time with this movie! Super-powered action, some good comedy, and some hip hop music in the background, add Project Power to your Netflix watchlist. You won’t regret it!