Netflix: Review of PROJECT POWER: Drug-Dependent Dynamics

 August 16, 2020

There is a popular new pill being sold on the black market in New Orleans. It is called "Power" because it can cause the development of unpredictable animal-like superpowers in the person who took it. In order to be able to match criminals who use this drug, a policeman Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sourced his own personal stash of Power from a teenage dealer Robin (Dominique Fishback). Frank was tracking ex-solider Art Reilly (Jamie Foxx), who was tipped to be the drug source. However, Art was on his own personal mission. 

The superhero theme is a very popular trend following the box-office ascendancy of the Avengers films in the last decade. Recently, most of the major steaming platforms had one show with such theme. There was "The Boys" on Amazon Prime and "Watchmen" on HBO. On Netflix, there was "The Umbrella Academy" (now its second season), as well as "The Old Guard" (which could very well be the pilot of its own series). "Power" dealt with artificially-acquired superpowers from a pill, reminiscent of films like "Limitless" (2011). 

Jamie Foxx still had that tough action man persona he had been in several of his films like "Collateral" (2004) or "Django Unlimited" (2012). He had always maintained a fair measure of sensitivity for drama. Joseph Gordon-Levitt may be more well-known for his quirky rom-coms, most specially for "500 Days of Summer" (2009), but he also had his share of action films, like "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). His film "Looper" (2012) coincidentally had an Ecstacy-like eye-drops form in its story-line. 

The third member of the lead triumvirate was Robin, a teenager who hated school, but loved free-style rapping. It was this character that gave a unique spin to what could have been a run-of-the-mill action flick. She served as the balancing force between Frank and Art's machismo. She wanted to be in the thick of the action, with enough of  her own street-smarts to serve her well. On the debit side, her presence may annoy hardcore action afficionados. Dominique Fishback is already 30 years old, yet was still convincing as a high school student.

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman gave this film a very frenetic style which may feel excessive at times. The atmosphere was very dark for most of the film, many scenes set at night and in dimly lit locations. The action may be too gory and violent for some viewers, enhanced with cleanly-executed special computer-generated effects. There were certain use of these powers which were too logically inconsistent just to serve the flow of the narrative. It was confusing if these wild powers could actually be controlled by the user or not. 6/10.