“Project Power” 

Directed by: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

Rated: R

Runtime: 1:51

Set in New Orleans, Netflix’s latest original film tells the fictional story about a new pill that gives unique superpowers to each user. This may sound too good to be true, and in fact, it is, since the user will not know what their superpower is and or what will happen to them until they take it. The pill ends up escalating the crime rates and danger within the city, leading to a local cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) teaming up with a veteran (Jamie Foxx) and a teenage dealer (Dominique Fishback) to fight power with power, taking the pill themselves in order to stop the group responsible for creating it. Thus, the film’s title, “Project Power” fits the action flick perfectly.

This film was directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, best known for their collective direction on “Nerve” (2016) and their directorial debut with the hit documentary, “Catfish” (2010) which triggered the spinoff television show, “Catfish” that is still on MTV today. The two partners’ resumés have only become progressively better throughout the years, and this action film is their biggest one yet. I mention their previous work with “Nerve” because both “Nerve” and “Project Power” have some fascinating similarities, especially if you consider the futuristic elements fueled by technology that seem to fuel both plotlines. Of course, “Nerve was more geared toward female and teen audiences, whereas, “Project Power” is definitely more of a macho, R-rated, “Fast and Furious”-esque movie. However, I do think that any action movie fan, no matter the gender or age, would still somewhat enjoy this flick.

Although Netflix will be probably be a good fit for this action blockbuster, I still think it would have been a wise decision for the filmmakers to have waited and released the film theatrically for. For one, this genre always lures in action fans and due to this film succeeding in building cool stunts and suspenseful action sequences, it more than likely would have done great with audiences everywhere. Secondly, the film has a fairly decent score on Rotten Tomatoes — a mediocre 61%. This may not be a great score, but at least it is “certified fresh” meaning that the film did fairly well with critics which as we know, is almost unheard of for big-budget action films, especially if they are not Marvel films. Speaking of budget, the film also had a set budget of 85.1 million dollars. I hate to say it, but it is going to be really difficult for the film to make even half of that money back in both the time of a worldwide pandemic and also by streaming exclusively on Netflix. Yikes.

“Project Power” is a decently entertaining film, but I would have enjoyed it more had I seen it in theaters with a big bag of popcorn. It truly is a blockbuster film intended for the big screen and not smartphones for limited viewing. With news of certain AMC’s opening back up this weekend, I think that the filmmakers truly missed the mark with not releasing it theatrically as originally planned, nor will they ever make that full 85.1 million dollars back. If you are craving a fun, fast-paced film, then this is the movie you have been waiting all COVID-19 long for. I give it a 6 out of 10.