On August 14, Netflix released Project Power, its first superhero movie. The platform wants to surf on this genre in high demand, with a superheroic production directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the duo behind Nerve. For the occasion, the cast includes Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback. With Project Power, Netflix wants to offer its own superhero movie, giving a slightly different approach. Successful bet? Focus.
Project Power: a project that lacks ambition
With Project Power, Netflix wants to enter the big league, and especially in the game of superhero movies. But with this genre that has been expanding for twenty years now, difficult to offer something original. So inevitably, the platform does not draw the card of the basic scenario of the genre. She prefers to ride the wave of the moment created among the smart guys of The Boys. So here, no hero ready to save the world, no supervillain who threatens to destroy a city. Project Power aims to share an urban film, where the stakes remain on a human scale, dotted with some fantastic touches. A filthy, corrosive, sarcastic and offbeat film. Netflix wanted an effective and fairly simple B series. In the end, Project Power manages to achieve this status relatively well. However, the film is sorely lacking in ambition. 
Project Power also suffers from comparison with The Boys. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman borrow many elements from Eric Kripke's series. Already in history, since as in the Amazon show, the powers come from pills. No natural mutation, but simply a drug that gives its users extraordinary abilities. In the treatment too, Project Power does not hesitate to plagiarize its predecessor. The film features anti-heroes, individuals who only seek to achieve their personal goal. Without being as acerbic and trashy as The Boys, Project Power also wants to go against the dominant genre: the Manichean superhero. But for all that, the feature film never really takes off, remaining a relatively predictable work and often lacking inspiration.
Limited achievement
The fault is a lack of artistic vision, and an absence of personality. In addition to the pleasant B-series atmosphere, the film does not offer much exciting. The story is ultra classic, and the scenario does not reserve many surprises. The result is a plot telephoned and viewed a billion times that would not totally fascinate his audience. Secondly, the realization is cruelly devoid of panache. The aesthetic is devoid of coherence, and does not really know which foot to dance on. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman offer both a rather dark approach and tends towards the filthy, while proposing very blockbuster shots, full of bright lights and slow motions not necessarily necessary. 
But what fishes the most are the action scenes. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman don't know how to make an action sequence. These are turned with the feet, offering no fluidity or visibility. But above all, they do not tell much, materializing only by a succession of mechanical and lazy planes. For a superhero movie it's a bit annoying. Thus, the fights do not rhyme much, and are of an abysmal ugliness. In short, overall it's quite ugly, and the film is sorely lacking in inventiveness, both in writing and staging. Remains a solid trio of actors, and a relatively attractive atmosphere. But Project Power stagnates at the bottom of the basket of the genre. In short, Project Power is yet another disappointment. Even though the film has more soul than most Netflix original productions, it never really takes off. The fault of a phone script, at a too uneven pace and action scenes shot with the ass. Too bad… https://youtu.be/ugxxmj-UkXQ
