LONDON: Love them or loathe them, superhero movies have become a mainstay of modern cinema, with studios desperate to either mine a previously untapped vein of comic-inspired material, or uncover that rarest of properties — an entirely original superhero story.
Netflix’s “Project Power” is the streaming giant’s latest attempt at the latter. Directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost (the duo behind “Catfish” and “Nerve”), working on a script by Mattson Tomlin (co-writer of “The Batman”), opt for a blend of gritty crime thriller and low-key superpower action, bringing together a trio of unlikely characters and dropping them in the middle of a hyper-violent New Orleans drugs war.
“Project Power” is on Netflix. (Supplied)
Teenage dealer Robin (Dominique Fishback) has an unorthodox business arrangement with New Orleans police officer Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Frank is desperate to rid the city of Power — a new drug that grants random superpowers for five minutes — but his methods raise one or two moral questions: he keeps an eye out for Robin, but also uses some of her stash to take down superpowered criminals.
The two cross paths with Art (Jamie Foxx) — a relentless former soldier with his own reasons for bringing down the people behind Power — and wind up knee-deep in a shady government plot to weaponize superpowers. It’s a great premise, and one that’s backed by three stellar performances from the movie’s leads.
But “Project Power” comes unstuck when Schulman and Joost try to cram too much into just a couple of hours. Superhero franchises tend to have multiple movies to build up ensemble casts, and character backstories that have been delicately honed over decades-long comic-book arcs. Here, there’s too much to take in in too short a time, and the movie’s final third feels rushed, with plot points glossed over, and the grand showdown lumbering into view with an air of inevitability. Which is a shame, because at times “Project Power” feels ideally placed to poke intelligent fun at a genre which can be a little cumbersome.
Perhaps there will be a sequel — the film is certainly set up for one — and the “Project Power” universe will have a little more room to flex.
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