The Protégé (2021) User Reviews

The Protégé

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 1 September 2021]

Martin Campbell directed the landmark BBC thriller Edge of Darkness in 1985. He was then given the task to reboot the James Bond franchise twice.

Nowadays Campbell is a veteran relegated to making B movies.

The Protégé has plenty of raw action, some of the violence is hard edged. The plot is forgettable and half baked.

Anna (Maggie Q) was taken in by an assassin called Moody (Samuel L Jackson) who found her as a child in Vietnam.

Moody has trained Anna to be a contract killer. She also uses a vintage bookshop in London as a front. One day a man called Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) walks into her shop and Anna's world changes.

Soon people she knows have been killed and Anna goes after the baddies for revenge. The finale ends up in Vietnam where Anna's traumatic past is revealed.

Along the way Ann has several showdowns with the enigmatic Rembrandt who is a fixer for a shady billionaire philanthropist who once faked his own death.

The Protégé is a slickly action thriller let down by a poor plot which holds little surprises.

Maggie Q is fine. Samuel L Jackson can do this in his sleep.

Keaton makes the most of the action scenes which is remarkable given his age. Although he gives the movie some class, you get the feeling he is slumming it after a career boost from movies such as Birdman and Spotlight.

Good action crime thriller...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 8 October 2021]

Initially I was thrilled about getting to sit down to watch "The Protége" from writer Richard Wenk and director Martin Campbell, but someone had mentioned that the movie wasn't really all that great. So it was with a bit of doubt that I sat down to watch "The Protége". Regardless of how it was playing out, then I would watch it, as the movie had a rather nice cast ensemble.

And I must say that I am glad that I opted to watch the movie, because I happened to enjoy the movie. This was a good old fashioned action crime thriller, for better or worse. Sure, the storyline and plot may have been predictable and somewhat generic, but who cares? It made for good wholesome entertainment.

The storyline is easily followed and doesn't really require all that much in the intellectual department, so you just switch off the old gray and lean back and enjoy the movie. And yeah, that was actually a good thing about the movie, because it is a munch-on-the-popcorn-and-enjoy-the-action kind of movie.

"The Protége" has a good cast ensemble. And truth be told, of course I had to watch "The Protége" given the fact that Maggie Q was starring in it, as she tends to make some pretty decent action movies. And she was nicely cast for "The Protége", I will say that much. And it certainly was nice to have the likes of Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson in a movie such as this as well.

There is a good amount of action and fight scenes throughout the course of "The Protége", which definitely help bring the movie up and into a good pacing.

I was adequately entertained by "The Protége", and it is a movie well-worth watching if you like action crime thrillers.

My rating of "The Protége" lands on a six out of ten stars.

It does what it's supposed to do

[AfricanBro · 6/10 · 30 August 2021]

Sure yeah the story isn't the most interesting or original, but the lead actors are great, it's paced very well and the action is good, sometimes illogical but good, far from fast and furious illogical. You won't go back to it but it's as entertaining as it is forgettable. I think it's made to entertain, not to picked apart by movie analysts, and in that regard it's a great movie. It's a John wick type of fun.

Solid and dependable

[andrew-hill515 · 6/10 · 30 December 2021]

It's a pretty decent assassin seeking revenge story, we all know the drill as we've all seen a million of them.

Maggie Q is who she is in everything, and is always good at it.

Michael Keaton was surprisingly good, but I'm always surprised he can act, despite his long and varied career.

The story was the weak point, but as it was a bog-standard revenge story with an extremely obvious twist at the end, that isn't surprising or even a particular detriment.

Maggie And Keaton Steal The Show

[qwmarcus · 6/10 · 20 August 2021]

While the Protege is a somewhat forgettable, typical action thriller movie, it's two leads do a great job. Maggie and Michael are both very charismatic in the movie, and do not phone in their performances. Samuel L Jackson is also good, but his performance is a little more phoned in than our other leads. The action is very good, with realistic hand to hand combat and decent gun play. While it's not the best action in a movie, it's definitely choreographed well and shot competently. I would mainly recommend this movie for Maggie and Michaels performances alone, along with the action scenes. However, if you're not interested in that you can probably skip this movie and not miss anything.

Liked it more than expected

[MrsSmithison · 6/10 · 23 October 2021]

You've seen most of this before, brutality, revenge, rich people. I liked the cat and mouse chemistry between Keaton and Q despite the age difference. A good throwback feel.

Entertaining, if forgettable.

[dereklambe · 7/10 · 22 November 2021]

An enjoyable, undemanding action thriller. Well-paced, with some lovely scenery and some good action scenes. Some of the violence was unnecessarily gruesome. Maggie Q was good and is easy on the eyes, and Michael Keaton stole every scene he was in.

Littered with plot inconsistencies

[wclark-96598 · 4/10 · 20 August 2021]

Fun enough for a John Wick style movie, with some really good acting by the main characters. Sadly it couldn't make up for a nonsensical plot that forces the characters into illogical decisions. It also relied heavily on Hollywood's inability to figure out how many bullets a weapon can hold (in one scene a guy literally fires at least 50 rounds from a handgun with no reload.) Bottom line watch it when it streams for free.

Maggie Q kicks ass

[toboer · 6/10 · 4 December 2021]

There are some good action sequences in this Maggie Q vehicle that shows off her chops as a movie action star and her beauty. Unfortunately the story and script are rather generic, and the director hasn't made the best use of the exotic locations, with most of the film having a sound-stage feel. Michael Keaton is a great actor, but I found the casting of a 70-year-old white male actor as the love interest of a 40-year-old Asian woman very off. Hope Maggie Q gets the material she deserves one day.

the story is unoriginal, the conversations lack wit, and the characters are flat

[guskeller · 5/10 · 23 August 2021]

The Protégé attempts to make a played out genre its own by adding awkward banter and misfired quips. The action, while fair, is the clear focus of this production because the plot is clunky and uninteresting. This is exacerbated by Maggie Q's bland acting. She tries to achieve the assured demeanor that the script is hoping for but she comes across wooden and forced. This isn't solely her fault since the dialogue wishes it was much cooler than it actually is. But Maggie does not elevate the role in any meaningful way.

From a technical perspective, The Protégé is decent enough. The action is the film's redeeming quality because the shot choices, choreography, and special effects are all adequate. Once, the music even enhances a fight scene to highlight juxtaposing emotions at hand. Yet, this is outweighed by the contrived and cringe writing. In almost every way, the script fails the audience because the story is unoriginal, the conversations lack wit, and the characters are flat. Often, The Protégé outright tells us how to feel instead of giving us real reasons to care, leaving viewers to groan at a marginally subpar piece of work.

Writing: 2/10 Direction: 4/10 Cinematography: 5/10 Acting: 4/10 Editing: 5/10 Sound: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack: 6/10 Production Design: 4/10 Casting: 5/10 Effects: 6/10

Overall Score: 4.7/10.

Revenge Maggie Q style

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 11 November 2021]

When you sometimes read famous actors appear in a movie you may not have heard anything about, mostly the actors are in the movie for a couple of seconds. In this case, especially Michael Keaton really is in this a lot more than I expected. And he is sooooo good in it. It's the Keaton charme you may say - and you would not be wrong.

The movie concentrates on Maggie Q and her mission(s). You may already know what she is after if you watched the trailer, but there are still a few surprises along the way. Also the action is quite well choreographed. Yes Maggie Q, Michael Keaton and others probably only did a small percentage of their stunts - but that is what the stunt people are there for.

And let's not forget: the movie was made by Martin Campbell. Which is the reason this was shown in theatres in America - unfortunately not in Germany though. I can imagine the impact this has on a bigger screen too, but it is not the same. Well made, even if it has the odd cliche once in a while. The actors and the action make up for that ... also the story does take you to wild places ... for better or worse of course, but I'd argue mostly for better.

Easy to watch,good action, but all not very believable.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 17 February 2022]

If you're just looking for an easy to watch popcorn action movie then The Protégé might be a movie for you. But you can't be too picky, you have to be able to accept that old geezers still fight like if they we're in the early primes, not only fighting but also winning. You have to be able to accept that a tiny women of 42 like Maggie Q still can take out an army of bodybuilders and martial arts experts. If you're fine with all that then it's an enjoyable movie to watch. But if you find that all too ridiculous then you won't be able to fully enjoy the story. I thought the plot was okay. The acting is good but then again you can't expect anything less from that cast. Good quality cinematography as well so all in all it's a good action movie if you don't have too high standards.

Didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would! [+44%]

[arungeorge13 · 4/10 · 31 August 2021]

The Protégé is extremely weak in the writing department that it has to make do with its three charismatic lead performers and a few not-bad set pieces. Director Martin Campbell's films have always been a mixed bag - he made Casino Royale (which in my books, is one of the best Bond flicks, period!), the thrill-by-the-minute Vertical Limit (which was a neat throwaway action flick), and also stinkers such as Green Lantern and Beyond Borders. I'd position The Protégé among his weaker films though not an absolute write-off. It even starts off well before diving into the familiar action territories of Lyon: The Professional and John Wick.

Michael Keaton's character is supposed to be the film's trump card. However, the writing (by Richard Wenk) is so drab that it only adds to the overall tedium of the screenplay. Samuel L Jackson's script choices have lately not been the greatest (Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, Spiral, and now this) and it looks like he's in it to have guns blazing fun at 72. While I was excited to see Maggie Q finally get her due in Hollywood playing the lead in a studio-backed actioner, I realized later it should have been in a better film altogether. She's convincing as an arse-kicker and also looks insanely hot while at it - David Leitch, Chad Stahelski, and others - take note.

I found the pairing of Michael Keaton and Maggie Q to be rather odd. This isn't the '80s or '90s. We don't need to witness weird sexual chemistry between a 69-year-old and a 42-year-old during an indoor set piece. The transition of tone is also very abrupt. One moment, a side character is cracking a joke and the next minute, he's murdered in the most gruesome way. And this doesn't happen just once. It's the way the film is structured as a whole - just throwing a whole bunch of moments at you. As scenes, they just don't mesh well. Even 77-year-old Campbell can do better - he already has proven himself. Let's give Maggie the action movie she deserves before it's too late!

Derivative but enjoyable

[abdiver · 7/10 · 23 August 2021]

We've seen it all before but it's well made, the female killing action is fairly believable, Maggie is smoking, Keaton plays it just right. Think Mr. And Mrs. Smith between them. I'd watch a part 2.

Good Assassin Entertainment

[bobrathome · 7/10 · 29 October 2021]

Anna (Maggie Q) is an Assassin whose mentor is contract killer Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) and she discovers that someone killed him. She believes the killer is in Viet Nam and she goes there to avenge Moody.

Some of this is complicated. We are not sure why Edward Hayes (David Rintoul) faked his death to spare his son of being complicit in Hayes' gangster operations. But that is what he did. Anna finds that Hayes' assistant, Vohl (Patrick Malahide) knows what all is about, but before he can tell her anything lawyer Duquet (Ray Feron) shoots Vohl in the head. Anna attacks Duquet and tries to escape, but Duquet captures and tortures her. Now enter Michael Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) who also works for Edward Hayes. Anna escapes, but now we see an almost different kind of relationship with her and Rembrandt.

Part of the complications loom from some scenes that are hard to explain and we are not sure why they are in here. For example the searching for and finding Lucas, the son of Edward Hayes went on for too long. Best to just keep your eye on Anna. Why go after Edward Hayes? Anna believes he was the one who ordered the hit on Moody, but she never had proof of that. However, she did know that Moody was investigating Edward Hayes, but didn't know why.

We do see a flashback re Anna's childhood and this shows she can kill the 4-people, who killed her family in front of her. Here we see the beginnings of an Assassin.

Many of the fight scenes are extremely brutal. When Anna was captured by Duquet the scenes with a bed sheet to subdue her captors were some of the best I have ever seen. And later when she fights Rembrandt it was so brutal almost to a point I had to check into the ER to make sure I was okay. Yes, stunt people were used and they must have been bruised and hurt for days, maybe more. The fight scenes were over the top brutal, but I have to admit, the choreography for the fight scenes were outstanding. Kudos.

Notables: Robert Patrick as Billy Boy a motocycle gang leader, who helps Anna meet with Vohl, who she believes can supply many answers re Edward Hayes; Florin Piersic Jr as Ram, who is a violent Enforcer for Edward Hayes.

There is a very big twist that no one saw coming, but you will like it. Guaranteed.

This is one of the better Assassin movies. The cast is solid and the pacing is very good. Maybe a little too long with those unnecessary scenes as mentioned above. (7/10)

Violence: Yes.

Sex: No.

Nudity: Yes, very brief in the beginning.

Humor: Not really. They tried too hard and it failed with me.

Language: Yes, but not much.

Rating: B.

Better than expected

[chrisgray-31350 · 7/10 · 24 August 2021]

If your looking for a entertaining assassin movie. This is worth your time. Even had a couple fun twists.

Underwhelming and forgettable.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7/10 · 28 August 2021]

The beautiful and talented Maggie Q needed a much better story than this cliche-riddled one that's been told many times before. For that matter, had she, Keaton and Jackson not been cast, Protege would've been just another B grade action flick.

The directing by Martin Campbell was decent - nothing spectacular, and the writing by Richard Wenk was underwhelming and predictable. It needed more action to stand out, and a better story than the typical villain revenge we've seen a thousand times before - and much better. It lacked any compassion or thrills, and was simply a flat story. There were sub-plots and back stories that could've been used better, as well as many left out and bogged down scenes i.e. Why the fake death and let his protege risk her life to revenge him? I mean c'mon now, that's 5th grade drama class mentality - a twist that's as lame as it gets. All three leads deserved much better, and it's such a waste of great talent. Wenk owes these leads a huge apology.

Cinematography, score, pacing and runtime were all decent. It's a good one-time watch if there's nothing better to see. It's a very generous 7/10 from me, mainly out of pity for the wasted talent.

Even an action film should have a comprehensible story

[kuarinofu · 5/10 · 1 September 2021]

'The Protégé' was a perfectly fine simple action film up to an hour into it.

After that, the characters were just set loose. I was unable to understand why was anyone doing what they were doing. Every character's motivation was beyond me. What was the point of Jackson's fakeout? Why did Maggie Q and Keaton have a Mr. & Mrs. Smith dynamic but not really? Why does Jackson give moral speeches to people before the assassinations, this seems just a little hypocritical? Why did Maggie Q want a normal life in peace when she clearly had one and she never showed any signs of discontent with her murdering lots of people for money (it was more like she enjoyed it)? Barely anything makes sense in this film.

In the end, it seemed like Moody was the main villain and not some generic corrupt businessman. I mean, he never cared for the hacker kid who got steamed because of him, or his maid, he was perfectly fine with dead bodies piling up.

The thing is if you want to write in a twist - do so. Something stupid happening can't be a twist by itself. You can trick a viewer by showing him/her what you want, but not the characters of your film, it just doesn't work like that. The viewer assumes that if something affected a character's motivation - this actually happened.

Overall, 'The Protégé' feels like a moderately budgeted action film with a couple of big names filmed in cheaper and convenient countries with no-name extras. And this works alright until the characters become sentient and just do whatever they want at the moment.

Add to your viewing liat

[uajx · 6/10 · 25 November 2021]

Fan of Maggie Q, who always brings a professional performance. Keaton was terrific, as usual. Sam Jackson more or less plays Sam Jackson now in every role. The script wasn't the best, but the story moved along fairly well. A couple of plot twist helped drive the last 30 minutes of the film.

feeling the lost of Jackson

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 4 September 2021]

Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) is a professional assassin and Anna (Maggie Q) is his protégé. They return to London after killing and stealing from a notorious gangster. She runs an antique book store and one day, the mysterious Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) walks in.

This had some fun while Jackson remains on the screen. I thought he and Maggie Q work as a comedic action duo. She's the straight man. She doesn't talk much and Jackson can bounce anything off of her. The movie really loses something when it loses him. It becomes a derivative silent assassin movie when early on, it promised to be a fun irreverent blow-em-up movie. While he's gone, the movie feels like it lost something and it never really recovers it even after the reveal. This probably works better as a buddy killer comedy.

Underrated...Gritty Action With a Trio at the Top In Fine-Form

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 3 December 2021]

Yet Another Female Assassin Headliner. The Roots Date Back to Luc Besson's "Nikita" (1990.

Besson Unleashed a "Girls With Guns" Post-Modern Juggernaut.

A Revival of the Low-Budget Exploitation of the Drive-In-Grind-House Genre of the 70's.

This One has a Hard-Bodied, Straight Up and Down Maggie Q, who at 40 Something is a Sight to Behold.

Michael Keaton Plays a Surprisingly Effective, Against-Type "Action" Slick in a Suit.

His Banter with Q is a Highlight Amongst the Hard-Nosed Hit and Kick Thrills, with a Copious Amount of Explosions and Bad-Guys.

Not Much New Here, Except for the Unexpected Keaton & Q Confrontations.

The Meilu is Dreary, Third-World Dread and the Tone only Occasionally Deviates from the Dire.

Overall it's Mostly a Dark Landscape.

It's Despicable Evil Killers with the Purely Innocent in Short Supply.

This Makes for a Slightly Different Affair from the Usual Affair of High-Gloss, Big-Budget, Female-Force that has been so Trendy in Recent Years.

Underrated and Action Fans Should Certainly Give it a Go.

"We just find people who can't be found."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 26 March 2022]

Come on now, did you really think Samuel L. Jackson would be so summarily dumped in a movie, especially via assassination? You wind up waiting to see what gimmick brings him back into the fold of the story. And so he does via some sleight of hand replacement of the victim in order to keep Jackson's presence as the legendary assassin Moody handy in the background.

But Moody's not the only one who fakes his death in the story. Going for it twice was probably overkill (sorry about the pun), but the presumed dead Edward Arthur Hayes (David Rintoul) appears at a time when you think the picture has just about used up all of its gimmicks. Michael Keaton portrays an ambiguous hit-man named Rembrandt in the story, who at times is at war and then making love to the story's principal, Anna (Maggie Q). It makes for some confusing continuity, since you never know what Rembrandt's rationale seems to be.

In the sub-genre of assassin flicks, this one is about middle of the road, with Anna's background as a Vietnamese orphan adding to her mystique as a contract killer trained by Moody, while running an antique book store as her daytime cover. If you're a book lover, you had to cringe when the bad guys shot up her shop with all those rare first editions and one of a kind collector items. The ending leaves you just short of wondering whether she survived her final confrontation with the enigmatic Rembrandt, but then again, you don't name your movie after a loser.

As many have said, forgettable movie.

[Luv2Spooge · 4/10 · 28 August 2021]

Not being a fan of John Wick films, this one ranked up there with just another poor writing, poorly executed film. The action scenes are good, but there it lies the problem, they were far way too few. Most of the movie is just talking talking about a very convoluted plot that was hard to follow and made even less sense. Overall, I was bored out of my mind and the movie barely served as a noise maker in the background while I did my work on the computer.

If these are the same creators that made Nobody, they really need to study their work and find out what made that one work.

Solid "John Wick action fun"

[Streaming-Kati · 6/10 · 8 July 2023]

We were in the mood for action, so this movie fell into our hands. Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson were reason enough to try it.

What can I say, a classic popcorn action movie with two actors who understand their craft. Here and there it goes to the point, in between you had to smile and a little surprise is also there. But you shouldn't take it too seriously. It wants to entertain, and it does, but the story is not exactly original and only scratches the surface. It's not a film that sticks in your memory and that you have to watch a second time. Overall solid, can be done.

A kind of "John Wick action fun" from the director who shot "James Bond 007: Casino Royale" among others.

Explosive, sexy, intriguing... confusing?

[Hallelujah289 · 7/10 · 25 March 2022]

The Protege starts off noisily with too many boppy tunes that obscures the melancholy narration underneath about revenge and making peace. Thankfully the music calms down and allows Maggie Q's book-loving assassin character room to breathe and develop.

Her exciting action scenes continue from start to finish and is the highlight of the film, along with her odd attraction to the old Michael Keaton. Their lovers/enemies dynamic make for something rather tender, complex and unique as the two measure out if whether each bullet was shoot to kill, or shoot to miss.

However, despite its strong characterizations and interesting relationship dynamics, there are parts of the stories which really don't make sense. Such as, the entire mystery. And also, just why indeed a final decision had to be made for one character's "peace." The major players on both sides were gone, so why not let things rest?

Also, I really think the writers just gave Samuel L Jackson the chance to do his iconic Pulp Fiction monologue again but in another form. They did not really background his character or the villain's character enough for the speech to make much sense for the story. However, the actor is of course very good at meting out justice-except of course, they did not spell out the crimes as well as they could have.

All in all, a sleek and stylish film with some very good moments, even if sometimes you are not sure exactly what is going on.