Title: Project Power
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

What It Is: A new drug, dubbed “Power”, is taking over the streets of New Orleans and those who take it are granted various superpowers for five minutes. Art (Foxx), who has mysterious connections to the origin of the drug, recruits Robin (Fishback), a street dealer of the drug, in an effort to find the main Power distributor. Hoping to prevent a Power epidemic, the two of them and Frank (Gordon-Levitt), a New Orleans police officer familiar with the drug, work together to infiltrate the group behind Power.

What We Think: This film could be the poster child for wasted potential. It draws you in with an interesting plot and some big names but the execution falls so flat it becomes hard to tell if this is an average movie that could’ve used a total revamping of the script or just an all-around bad movie. The cinematography was at least eye-catching and the acting wasn’t as bad as the writing but for an action movie, the fight sequences were humdrum and relied too much on slow motion. The soundtrack full of songs that sound exactly like each other didn’t help (if you ask me, this movie missed its chance of incorporating “Power” by Kanye West but I guess it was more important to get big names to act out tired stereotypes). The first thirty minutes really were compelling and hyped up ‘what could be’ for this film. By the halfway point everything starts to crumble and the much too long final act slaps you in the face and convinces you it’s your own fault for thinking this movie could really be something.   

Our Grade: C-, You might’ve expected a lower rating considering what I’ve written so far but to be fair, the movie entertained me for at least fifty-percent of its runtime. Yes, it’s quite a mess with Casey Neistat trying to break onto the acting scene, the final scenes taking place on a boat to make them seem cooler, and some of the subplots trying their best to make you fall asleep. Truthfully, I hate to endorse a movie that uses ‘that’s a movie, this is real lie’ trope, so I won’t…per se. But, the story really is interesting at times and I like to think a sequel more focused on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character was set up pretty nicely. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that interests me. So…maybe take a chance on this movie, but for your own sake, don’t expect much.