Project Power (2020) is a bit unsettling (Netflix Review)

I watched Project Power featuring Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The movie, set in New Orleans, follows a man, Art, looking for his daughter. He was experimented on in the military in their efforts to create super heroes. His daughter, Tracy, developed special abilities and was later abducted by the government in their efforts to steal her gifts and sell them.

Thoughts

The movie was pretty good. It has a very dark tone in the beginning and can make you feel uncomfortable at points. Specifically when you see people transform after taking the ‘power’ drug that gives them temporary powers for 5 minute, its unnerving.

The first time you see a person use power, the character overdoses on a power that turns him into a lackluster human torch. It backfires and ends up blowing him up and nearly destroying an apartment complex. There are many other instances like that as well. For instance, you see a man with a chronic loose neck, turns out its because his power drug causes him to hulk up and double in size.

Every time I saw someone transform, I kept thinking, why would somebody want to do that to themselves? I kept trying to find the logic, because the first time I burned a whole through my face I would probably not do it again.

Once you get past the set up, the story starts to level out. Foxx teams up with a teenager (Dominique Fishback) who is selling power to earn money to take care of her sickly mother. The beginning of their relationship is one of the most uncomfortable aspects of the movie, however they end up working together (think Last Action Hero, but darker) along with the help of Gordon-Levitt’s character to save Tracy (Kyanna Simone Simpson).

My only qualm with this film is that after Tracy is rescued and everyone lives happily ever after, there was no hint that the government would keep hunting her. I may just be programmed to expect a sequel setup, but I felt almost cheated at the end of the movie the story was completely over.

If the abductors were shopping the drug around, wouldn’t people still have interest?

That does not negate the fact that the movie was pretty good, it just caught me off guard. Overall, if you are looking for a film to watch, this is a good option. Be prepared to have moments where you are uncomfortable, but understand it all works out in the end.