“What’s your power?“
Despite a global pandemic (among other things), it’s a nice distraction to wrap yourself up within a entertaining movie or TV series. Netflix has held us down with some heat for summer 2020. No, not literal heat! I’m referring to the variety of original content they’ve released —and will continue to release—throughout these next few months.
Project Power, Netflix’s latest original movie, claims an interesting take on the superhero genre. Set in New Orleans, a disgruntled city cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a very determined ex-soldier (Jamie Foxx), and a troubled teenager (Dominique Fishback) join forces to track down the organization behind Power, a drug that allows its victims to experience a flash of random superpowers for five minutes. Check out TheOriginalChatman’s review below:
First and foremost, I need to say something. Jamie Foxx’s acting range is unmatched! His role as Art, a man-on-a-mission/ex-soldier, is highly believable from the moment you see Foxx on the screen. Through a series of unfortunate events, he purposely ends up meeting Robin, a teen Power dealer striving to make ends meet for her diabetic mother. Foxx’s role of Art is the classic “bad guy doing good things” type.
I could continue to praise Foxx’s performance; however, the real star of the movie is Fishback’s Robin character. Tough, street smart and book smart. Fearless. More than another strong (black) female lead, Robin shows the layered truth of wanting to do more with your life while feeling stuck under life’s circumstances. While Art and Robin navigate the seedy underworld of New Orleans, throughout the movie, Art asks Robin the same question: “What’s your power?”
Robin is a gifted lyricist, but doesn’t share her talent with the world until Art puts her on the spot. Not quite a father-daughter dynamic, Art and Robin are two people making the best out of bad decisions. Based on their dynamic in the movie, I’d take Art and Robin versus Batman and Robin any day!
Lastly, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s cop character Frank seems out of place. His performance seemed very lackluster. The grizzled “it’s my city and I do what i must to protect others” cop role just didn’t seem very convincing to me.
Overall, if you’re looking for a story that flips the superhero genre around, lovable characters, and a great story behind them, Netflix’s Project Power is a must see.
The Original Chatman 