"Project Power" could have been a new Netflix hit if it had been a good movie.

The summer blockbuster season this year, for obvious reasons, did not go well, but for our rescue, the streaming platform Netflix prepared several high-profile and expensive action films, one of which is the sci-fi movie "Project Power". The film features stars such as Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but is that enough to satisfy the audience's craving for a cinematic thrill ride? Let's try to figure it out.

A Vague Story

The plot of "Project Power" brings together three disparate characters:

• A schoolgirl (Dominique Fishback) who deals a drug that grants temporary superpowers or kills instantly;
• An uncompromising cop (Gordon-Levitt) who isn't shy about using the same drug;
• A major (Jamie Foxx) trying to find his missing daughter.

If you ask what unites them, the authors have no clear answer. The screenwriters' talent was only enough to come up with circumstances for their meeting, but not for a plausible reason for them to join forces. But hey, this is an obvious popcorn movie, where a cool black man takes a high school girl on a dangerous mission because she can rap well. And freestyle, too.

An Original but Underdeveloped Concept

Freestyle could describe the entire film "Project Power." The creators took an intriguing concept of a drug that grants superpowers for only 5 minutes, and the first time you don't know what ability you'll get. Then they started throwing in some unclear ideas (with the obligatory nod to racism), adding absurd characters and placing them in ridiculous circumstances, seemingly to surprise the audience. But it all frankly doesn't work and gives the feeling that either you're not sane enough to grasp what's happening on screen, or the filmmakers are a bit off.

Cheapness in Details

Obviously, most of the budget for "Project Power" went to the leading stars' fees and that one scene with a point-blank shot at Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character, which the trailers persistently "sold" to viewers.

Otherwise, the cheapness of the sci-fi action film seeps through every crack: sparse locations, eye-bleeding special effects, mediocre cinematography, and unimpressive editing. If all these elements were top-notch, one could overlook the numerous issues with internal logic and the film's overall mediocrity, but alas.

Is "Project Power" Worth Watching?

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman have created a film that pretends to be a cool action movie with an original concept and Hollywood stars in the lead, but in reality, it's a classic B-movie with all that entails. If you stumble upon it by chance, you might watch it to the end and even get some enjoyment (brain rest is also useful), but we wouldn't recommend deliberately spending your time on it.

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