Project Popcorn

 

“Project Popcorn”

A Review of Project Popcorn by Nick Olszyk

 

Superheroes Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Streaming Service: Netflix

Year: 2020

FCC Rating, TV-MA

CSM Rating, NR 

Reel Rating, Two Reels            

 

            In the past few years, Netflix has been vigorously pursuing the genre of hard sci-fi/ fantasy with pictures like Bright and Birdbox. Now comes Project Power, an R rated mashup of superhero and crime drama tropes. It does a decent job of checking off the necessary elements: big name actors, complicated actions scenes, blending gritty realism with high end special effects, and trying in some vague way to speak to the tensions of the times. Project Power is certainly entertaining in how it proceeds with its narrative but does little else.

            In a near future New Orleans, a mysterious underground organization begins to push a free drug to dealers around the city. This new substance dubbed “Power,” which retails $500 a pill, gives the user a unique superpower for five minutes. Unfortunately, the user is never sure what ability he will get until it enters his system. Some fly. Others get superstrength. A few blow up. I’m assuming no refunds. Since the drug was distributed through the black market, it makes sense that most addicts use it for crime. Invisible men rob banks. Perverts use X-ray vision. Police Officer Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) uses the drug, claiming it ”levels the playing field” in his attempt to thwart super criminals. Through a series of mishaps, he meets Art (Jamie Foxx), an ex-soldier who has a connection to the original source of Power. Together,they will expose the creators’ true intentions and bring peace to the city.

            It must be said on the outset that like Netflix’s previous efforts in this genre, Project Power is a ton of fun. The action scenes are brilliantly directed and insanely entertaining. Every time someone chugs a pill, one can never be sure what will happen. My favorite scene involved Art chasing a man made of magma. The perp falls through floor after floor as he sets fire to everything he touches, like a pyro King Midas. As a wildfire burns out of control just a few miles from my door and keeps me inside, such excitement was a welcome distraction.

            Being a great popcorn flick, however, is about all this film has going for it. The narrative is standard and predictable, drawing from fears of inside government conspiracies. While the acting is above average, the dialogue and writing continues to be the weakest elements of these films. Like Bright, the film occasionally tries to bounce off cultural ideas, like police adopting criminal elements to defeat criminals, but these themes are never fully explored and lost in a messy mythology that becomes more and more confusing as the film progresses.

            One benefit of R-rated superhero fare is that it allows the public to see why the reality of superheroes would be messy and ultimately undesirable. Probably the best series to address this issue is Amazon Prime’s The Boys, but it is too graphic and offensive to be efficacious. There is a reason God created a predictable natural order and only rarely permits supernational actions. Humans would not be able to handle these powers appropriately. Mankind has not proven it can handle even ordinary abilities without sin, forbidding angelic gifts is ultimately in man’s best interest. God gives natural laws to encourage community effort and humility. It also makes genuine miracles proof of His glory.

            Project Power is a fun movie, and, frankly, we need that kind of film. It doesn’t advance any social agenda or demand direct action against any group of people. I love movies that are just good guys vs. bad guys, and the good guys win. I can watch Challenger: The Final Flight, Unwell, or The Social Dilemma when I don’t have to worry about evacuating.

This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on September 27th, 2020.