(film review) [STREAMING] - Project Power

As previously stated in my trailer review, "Just when I thought we may have had enough of superhero shows and such, this trailer reared it's head like "Hello there!" (only said in an Obi Wan voice)" and for the most part, that is EXACTLY what this film has done taking many people and fans alike aback, scratching their head wondering many things.  Super powers? Comic book? Jamie Foxx? Netflix?  But from what I know and working my way backwards, Netflix has a host of it's own shows which are pretty good, including films which includes some kind of super powers or enhanced individuals.  It is definitely a surprise seeing Jamie Foxx again since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and for the most part, who knew he was filming anything other than Soul.  Nope, doesn't appear to be connected to any graphic novel, cartoon strip or comic book.  And well, why not have a movie about super powers? It's this era's hot commodity in which if done well, isn't something you can be bored with, you know?  Think 2012's Chronicle.  Think 2013's Prisoners.  Think...I should just let you know how it all went.

So, Project Power is about a young drug dealer named Robyn (Dominique Fishback) who gets caught up in Art Reilly's (Jamie Foxx) personal vendetta trying to find his missing daughter and a city cop Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is trying to rid his city of a drug called Power, a drug which will "give" the user an unpredicted power limited to 5 minutes. 
Whilst Robyn has her own personal reasons as to why she is pushing these drugs, Art has his own reasons as to why he is after these drugs and at the same time, Frank, who is also using these drugs, is trying to stop the drugs from getting around the city leading to a cat and mouse chase for Power.  However, when they all eventually butt heads, each person is caught in some kind of power struggle.  I can't really go into much more detail due to spoilers, but that is about it.

The film unfortunately is quite generic, but at the same time is very enjoyable to watch.  It is funny, it is action-packed, it is smart, it is gory (to an extent), the fight scenes, dialogue and music are all great.  The pacing is good and the characters are also great.  Even the tone, although a little all over the place, lends itself to the movie as it is definitely a different type of "superhero" movie.  You could say quirky in places, but the execution, cinematography and some of the scenes are stylish and inviting whilst being fast-paced, energetic and in some places, erratic.  Imagine if this drug was on the streets where you come from and how things would go down, this film feels very much like that and feels very grounded from the dialogue and the things the characters say and the way they behave, but although being generic, I do feel they could have pushed the boat out a little and digged deeper into the world of the deep seedy underground and the different gangs all fighting for Power.  Although Art's story is told in small little flashbacks, not enough is done for Robyn as her background is surface level as well as Franks.  I loved Art as a character and Award winning Jamie Foxx kills it; very relentless and I liked what they did with Robyn and her abilities.  Dominique Fishback's portray was great but she could have been given more.  Joseph has been in excellent movies like The Dark Knight Rises and Inception, he is a great actor.  He did well in this movie but a little underused.  The villain is also generic with no real purpose really, other than the usual, but that does not take away from the movie.  In some cases, it is style over substance but with great acting from the trio, the movie is forgiven for its small short-comings and when it was finished, i didn't essentially feel like it was missing anything until i gave it some thought.

There are a few quotes in this movie that stand out as funny and a few scenes which were excellent, however, I just feel, although great, they could have done just that little bit more by maybe extending the film by 20 minutes of footage with Frank and Robyn's characters maybe.  One of my favourite scenes was near the end when Art is talking about a creature called the "Pistol Scrimp" which then leads into a funny moment in the following scene, but I can only imagine Google has had a number of people googling.  Another one of my favourite scenes involved a woman in a container and we have a view of what's going on outside of the container from inside the container, very stylish and I liked it.  Oh yeah, I hate the name Power for a drug.  Give it some letters and numbers or something, blimey!

I wonder if all the viewings in the next week or so could generate enough money to double the 85 million used to make the film to possible get Netflix to move onto a sequel.  It would be interesting if they do a sequel in another town with another protagonist but maybe put a different spin on it.