No one is going to mistake Project Power for high art or groundbreaking cinema any time soon, but it was never meant to pass for that anyway. While not as wild as predecessors like Die Hard (1988) or as grotesquely sci-fi minded as Predator (1987), it still manages enough zaniness and well-meaning effort to warrant a look from those whose tastes lie closer to one-liners than weighty concepts. Similar to Extraction from earlier this year, Project Power is a nonstop action movie trope machine that offers more escapism than intellect, and more fun than importance. It might not stick the landing, but it doesn’t break its legs on it either.
While not exactly a superhero film, Project Power operates on a question that most of us have probably asked ourselves at one point or another: If I could have any superpower, what would it be? Of course, as is usually the case in super movies, you don’t get to pick your power from a list, but rather it’s buried somewhere deep in your genetic code, manifesting itself when a certain set of criteria are met. In this case, the power to unlock your super genes comes in the form of a pill. But here’s the twist: when you take this pill, the effects only last for five minutes, and there’s no way to tell what your power is until your first time. And if your body can’t handle the power locked within? Well, you explode.
Working off this interesting premise, Project Power has the tools to be more than the sum of its superhuman parts, but never seems interested in exploring its own ideas past their superficial surfaces. It slips too often into hand-wringing, mustache-twirling villainy instead of taking its time to develop its characters beyond predictable tropes, and offers almost nothing in the way of world-building. The dots we’re left to connect are easy enough to follow, but only because the archetypes and backstories are so familiar, it requires virtually no work to do so.
While the main characters – a New Orleans cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and angry ex-Marine (Jamie Foxx), and an aspiring teenage rapper (Dominique Fishback) – clearly have backstories and motivations beyond what we’re shown, they’re relegated to “fill in the blank” status. Without the necessary tools to understand the characters, I found myself projecting personalities from familiar movies like Lethal Weapon or RoboCop onto them. The same goes for the setting, which is a shame because, with some work, there’s real potential for a compelling franchise at work here if only the details could be refined and honed.
But, Project Power has its positives too. The action is good old fashioned pulpy fun and comes in the right amounts at the right times.The highlight, however, is Fishback, who is wonderful. I can’t wait to see more from her in what I hope will be a long and successful career. The scenes in which she interacts with Foxx about being a rapper, and the ease with which she maneuvers with Gordon-Levitt are strong high points that should not be discounted, regardless of the film’s shortcomings. If for no other reason, see Project Power to familiarize yourself with this new talent.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.