6/10 What do you get when you take “Limitless”, add superpowers and shorten the duration of the pill’s effects? You get “Project Power”, a flawed but fun twist on the super powered genre. The plot revolves around some clearly non FDA regulated pills which give the user certain superpowers based upon unique animal attributes. These powers last for five minutes and based upon the animal powers and the batch of pills themselves, the results may vary. Sometimes it is successful with no lasting side effects and other times you might just explode and die. The concept is a very original and fascinating one. If you could have superpowers and feel unstoppable for five minutes but risk potentially dying in the process, would you take the pill? The overarching plot was very well done but when you get into the territory of kidnapped daughter that has to be saved who holds the key to the perfect pill, we’ve seen that before in many past films. Besides some of the plot retreads, there are other elements of the movie that at times make it a tough pill to swallow. Co-lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an uneven performance where at times he succeeds and in other scenes, seems like he is phoning it in for a paycheck. One of the main characters, Robin, played by Dominique Fishback, who looks at least ten years younger than she actually is in real life, is able to sneak around and do so many things in the film that I didn’t really buy, since she is playing a young, teenage character. She never really had any strong opposition in the movie and seemed to get a free pass with every obstacle she came up against. The soundtrack was genuinely bad and some of the visual effects were questionable, including a man who takes a pill where he grows into a giant that looked like a rejected Ninja Turtles villain. There were a few eye rolling moments as well but nothing too egregious and one blatant moment of product placement featuring Church’s Chicken. On the positive side, for an almost two-hour movie, the pacing flies by and there was way more action than I was anticipating, which was all pretty well done. The action isn’t necessarily ground breaking but it is well choreographed, high intensity and creative due to all the different powers dueling at once in certain scenes. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman have a strong grasp on the visual aspects of the movie with some fantastic stylistic moments to enjoy. Jamie Foxx gives a solid performance, even if his character is a little one note. The pacing, visual effects, creative story and action add up to a movie that has issues (the script could have used one more pass and it includes some forced woke politics in one scene) but is enjoyable and a fun twist in this mixing of genres. It sure isn’t perfect but it is a pill I’m glad I took.
#BlackmanAndRobin / #ProjectBlackPower / #BiggieFalls / #PillTheMessenger / #TheDrugTrialsOfTheNewOrleans7 / #TheArtOfTheHeal
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