Jamie Foxx and rising star Dominique Fishback make a compelling duo in Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Netflix action, but the film is never as good as its biggest and best ideas.
It’s called Power. Packed in a glittering capsule, the secret new drugs and their present pushers arrive in a large American city, hit the streets, spread the pills and move on. Awaiting: a new class of addicts, people who have discovered that one hit of Power abilities can unlock – superhero-esque, you would say – they never knew they had it. It’s an exciting idea for an action movie, and one that takes compelling form in ‘Project Power’, the latest from ‘Catfish’ filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Yet, armed with a stellar cast, including Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and rising star Dominique Fishback, the new Netflix blockbuster never reaches its potential, leaky complications that only muddy what should be a slam-dunk twist on the superhero story.
It starts strong. The drug that gives its users five minutes of other worldwide capabilities is offered to a range of dealers (for free!) To sell to, well, anyone who wants it. And a lot of people want it. A series of 911 calls play out through energetic voice-over in the minutes of the film’s opening, as people describe the “weird shit” they see, including crazy feats of power and the casual explosion. Mattson Tomlin’s script sets the parameters of Power just as quickly, as one character declares, “you take it, five minutes, you get what you get”; another adds that it “can be good, maybe bad, no one knows.”
A young New Orleans dealer, Robin (Fishback), sells Power to help her sick mother and potentially make her own dreams of becoming a rapper. Her cousin Newt (Joost and Schulman regular Machine Gun Kelly) loves to sell, but he really loves taking the drugs, which provide him with Human Torch-like powers that can do him more harm than good. Fast-talking local cop Frank (Gordon-Levitt) is jealous of sniffing out the crazy new criminals backed by Power, especially when he gets his own dose that makes him almost bullshit. And they’re all about to meet Art (AKA The Major, played by Foxx), who is both the source of Power and her biggest enemy.
Fishback, a natural talent who can share the screen with the Foxx larger than life and still steal the show, becomes the focus of an often-spread story. Thrown together with Art, who seeks out a variety of enemies (the drugs, the bad guys, his own fault), Robin is forced into a wild and very dangerous adventure through the city. (Do not forget Rodrigo Santoro and Amy Landecker as some amusing bad guys.)
“Project Power”
SKIP BOLEN / NETFLIX
Screenwriter Mattson Tomlin is now one of Hollywood’s most sought-after writers, sharing script credit for “The Batman” with director Matt Reeves and is already set to reunite with Joost and Schulman on a “Mega Man” feature. Here he tries to weave some great ideas together while rooting his characters in human motivations. Unfortunately, the idea of Power is both grand and inaccurate (what is it, and what does it do, exactly?) And when the script tries to answer such questions, it only becomes more complicated, robbing “Project Power” of significant advancement.
When very human characters come up against Power-mad enemies, it’s a winning combination. Often it is the shortcoming that causes the film to twist and turn. A few standout scenes – one containing a bank robber with chameleon-like features, another shocking a partygoer shocked to discover their own abilities – highlight the exciting opportunities to let her take center stage, and the talent of Joost and Schulman in capturing them. We need more time with these alternating gross and cool Power-given capabilities.
The film duo have made a career out of making films about the games that people play with each other, from the still hot, often documentary “Catfish” to 2016’s augmented reality actioner “Nerve.” While “Project Power” shares that film alternately gray and candy-colored, it never achieves the same jangly energy of a fast freight train with some bigger questions inside.
“Project Power”
SKIP BOLEN / NETFLIX
Like “Nerve”, “Project Power” struggles with a litany of thorny moral issues (and not just that of the ‘great power, great responsibility’ vibe), but never fully embraces it. There are broad outlines about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans residents, and a paper-thin exploration of the criminal consequences of a cop not only using the drug but buying it from a teenager. (To say nothing of a reference to Henrietta Lacks that is both perfectly appropriate and absolutely foolish.)
It’s a lot for one movie, and “Project Power” never brings enough lust to power through its biggest, best ideas, and delivers on its promise. Maybe the (inevitable) sequel could pack more soup.
Quality: C +
“Project Power” starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, August 14th.
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