Project Power wants to be a big, loud action movie about superpowers. It falls short because its script is thin enough to swallow its own dialogue whole. This Netflix release from directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, with a screenplay by Mattson Tomlin, follows an ex-soldier, a teen dealer and a cop through New Orleans as they chase the source behind a pill that grants temporary superhuman abilities. The premise is strong. The execution is not.
Trailer, via Netflix.
Five Minutes, Five Minutes, Five Minutes
The central mechanics are simple. A pill called Power, when taken, grants its user five minutes of superhuman abilities. The catch: the user explodes at the end of those five minutes. That rule alone should drive a tight, tense thriller. Instead, the film spends too much time explaining what Power does and too little time letting it breathe.
Jamie Foxx plays Art, a man hunting for the distributor Biggie, who has the ability to increase in size and strength. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Frank Shaver, a cop whose Power hardens his skin to make him bulletproof. Dominique Fishback is Robin, a teen dealer and Art’s ally. The cast is capable, but none of them get much room to work. Biggie, played by Rodrigo Santoro, and Frank, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, are the strongest performances here, because they have the most to do.
Robin and the Bulletproof Cop
The heart of Project Power should be the relationship between Art and Robin, a dealer who aspires to be a rapper. Robin is smart, funny and scared, and Fishback sells that mix well. The film keeps promising a bond between them, but it never quite delivers one. Art and Robin run from Biggie and his henchmen, and there are moments of quiet between the chases that should carry weight. They mostly don’t.
The film’s pacing is a bigger problem than any one character. The first act is slow, with too much exposition about Power and its origins. The middle act picks up when Frank goes after a bank robbery victimized by a Power user, but the momentum stalls again when the plot shifts to tracking down Biggie. By the time the film reaches its climax near the Superdome, the audience has sat through two hours of setup for a payoff that feels rushed.
The Cast Carries the Weak Script
The cast is the film’s saving grace. Foxx brings his usual easy charisma to Art, a man who was experimented on by Teleios to create his heatwave powers. Robin is a dealer who treats her customers, including Frank, with a street-smart honesty that grounds the movie. Gordon-Levitt’s Frank is a cop who uses Power to survive a shooting but loses his job for it, and Santoro’s Biggie is a menace whose power of rapid growth makes him physically terrifying.
The supporting cast is just as capable. Kyanna Simone Simpson plays Tracy, Art’s daughter, who has healing abilities inherited from her father. Allen Maldonado plays Landry, and Courtney B. Vance plays Captain Craine. There are also smaller roles: Yoshi Sudarso as Knifebones, whose bones turn into weapons from a wolverine frog, and Jane Chika Oranika as Akeela, Robin’s classmate.
Biggie’s Demonstration at the Superdome
The film’s final stretch is where it finally clicks. Biggie hosts a private demonstration of Project Power for a potential buyer near the Superdome, where large groups of Saints fans are arriving for a home game. Biggie claims Power represents “the next evolution of the human species,” with powers derived from animals like the chameleon or the wolverine frog. The scene is tense, well-shot and well-acted.
But the setup is the problem. The film has spent so much time explaining Power that the demonstration feels like a recap rather than a reveal. The audience knows what Power does. The film keeps telling us anyway.
Where the Film Misses the Mark
The biggest issue is the script’s lack of depth. The film never answers why Power users explode at the end of five minutes, or why Teleios experimented on Art to begin with. The climax is a race against time, but the stakes are never made clear. The audience knows the pill gives five minutes; the film should have known the stakes were higher than that.
The film’s action sequences are competent. The explosions, the chases, the fights — they are solid. They are not memorable. The film is at its best when it trusts its cast to carry a scene with nothing more than dialogue and a look. Those moments are rare.
| Comparison of Lead Performances | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Jamie Foxx as Art | Heatwave powers, ex-military grit | Too much exposition, underdeveloped |
| Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Frank Shaver | Bulletproof skin, cop discipline | Overworked, underwritten |
| Dominique Fishback as Robin | Street-smart charisma, comedic timing | Underdeveloped, sidelined |
| Rodrigo Santoro as Biggie | Powerful menace, chilling presence | Too much exposition, underdeveloped |
The film is at its best when it stops talking and starts moving. The chase scenes are tense. The explosions are loud. The performances are strong. None of it adds up to a great film. It adds up to a good, loud, occasionally thrilling one with a script that keeps getting in its own way.
Project Power is a film that knows how to make noise but not how to make meaning. It is a missed opportunity: a premise this promising deserves a tighter, more focused story. The cast is strong. The idea is strong. The execution is not.
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