51
Metascore
35 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNew York PostJohnny OleksinskiThere is enough detail and psychological nuance in Mattson Tomlin’s clever script to make Project Power more intriguing than most of what Marvel and DC have to offer, even if it could barely match their catering budgets.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyWhat makes Project Power entertaining is its canny combination of familiar ingredients in a textured real-world milieu that gives it fresh flavor. Well, that and the dynamic execution of co-directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and their crack stunt and VFX teams.
- 67ConsequenceClint WorthingtonConsequenceClint WorthingtonProject Power is a hard-R action flick with a neat premise, inventively handled, and a winsome cast to coast us through the creakier bits of the screenplay. More crucially, it’s also got a sense of humor about itself.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawA punchy, likable trio of performances are the point of this superhero action-thriller with energy to burn.
- 58IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandIt’s a lot for one film, and Project Power never revs up enough gusto to power through its biggest, best ideas and deliver on their promise. Perhaps the (inevitable) sequel can pack more juice.
- 50VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanProject Power has propulsion, little detonations of visual magic, the resonant setting of a still desperate New Orleans, and a better cast than a movie like this one tends to have. Yet watching it, you may find yourself aware of how patched together the whole thing is.
- 40Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangIts most memorable effects, though, are not technological in nature. They are the wary side-eye glances and unexpected smiles that cross Fishback’s face as she banters with Foxx and Gordon-Levitt and also the streams of hip-hop poetry — carefully scripted but thrillingly delivered — that come pouring out during a few welcome stretches of down time.
- 40The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThe humanity of the leads fills up the hollowness, putting flesh, or at least charm and attitude, on their archetypes.
- 30IGNIGNThe pacing drags through action set-pieces left obscured by messy compositions and limp, over-stylized visual choices. New Orleans, as the film’s setting, is wasted while the film’s gritty concept fails to deliver the desired intensity.
- 25Slant MagazineDerek SmithSlant MagazineDerek SmithThe film is an unwieldy array of muddled ideas that never gel together into a cohesive whole.