8/14/20 - Project Power (2020) - 5+/10

The story setup and lots of the dialogue is “1st script”-ey and plain, but the expression of powers & and the action associated with them (Which is what we are all watching this for, am I right?) was fairly stellar and often inventive. I think that it could have used a few mutations to reach its apex, but its superpower was being fairly average but enjoyable to watch.

Some solid action and direction of those powered-up set pieces. I definitely appreciated the approach of showing the results of a skirmish, without focusing on the explicit violence/battle. And when they do display such fights, many times it is explored in a unique fashion. An example would be the fight scene happening that is somewhat visible through the glass while it is juxtaposed with a separate drama; this was well done and well thought out.

Foxx has the gravitas and steady drive for believability in this. Dominique Fishback is pretty good. Levitt is wasted, unless this is all he really has to give. I haven’t decided on that. The villains are a nothing and non-starter, just amorphous plot tools.

I very much appreciate the “powers in the real world” impression. Using New Orleans and its history, there not being heroes but just petty criminals, and all of them simply being pawns of the elites & military industrial complex; there is the ring of truth and authenticity to it all, which is sorely needed considering the other elements present. Story wise, yes, it is most certainly lacking. But I enjoyed the panache of most of the action scenes and the visual storytelling on display in them, allowing me to be mostly entertained overall.

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Powers quibble: Trying to make these superhuman powers the genetics of the animal kingdom based, while not intrinsically negative, doesn’t work within the context of the powers presented or their manifestation. Armadillos DON'T have impervious eyes or granite like skin. I can’t remember any “Iceman/Frozen” creature out there, manipulating sub-zero localized weather anomalies. Nothing becomes a lumpy mutated giant…. There isn’t the machination and facilitation of these powers. Sure, it is the Spider-Man problem (why isn’t he more Brundlefly?) but that is specifically a comic and this posits everything in “the real world”. Just keep it mysterious or access to extradimensional possibilities. It would keep it vague enough to not be a downside or a nitpick. Also, the bone claw problem: such bone protrusions would not be razor sharp, would not cut metal, and they would break, to horrific effect.