Project Power

Started off good. Film has style and initially keeps you engaged. But getting half way in, there's too much subplot, too much meaningless waffle - the movie just needs to cut that junk out. Got a little boring around halfway through and a little confusing in places.

If you've got a rough life, quit school, sell drugs, dream of becoming a rap star. That's the message.

This could have been an awesome movie, too bad the wrong people influenced the script and directing.

Let me start with the positive: Whoever worked on the VFX in this knew what they were doing. Everything looks sharp, and the colors pop the way a comic book style movie should. I hope more action movies in this genre can add more pop to their color.

What needed work: The story starts off pretty good and I was into it but the third act felt like it came to an end pretty quickly and it feels like there was something missing. I could've totally seen this as a tv show, and I think in that format they could've explored more angles.

Nothing really stands out here. Average story, average performance by actors, weak world building, average action scenes. Just average film.

From the genetic mutation of the X-Men, to the radioactive spider-bite of Spider-Man, to the cosmic blast absorbed by the Fantastic Four, the moment superheroes receive their powers on page or screen tends to be an irrevocable, life-altering event that forever changes their very DNA. Not so in Project Power. Netflix's action-thriller offers an intriguing tweak to the superhero mythos - here, those who take a 'Power' pill are gifted supernatural abilities for just five minutes per hit and they don't know what hidden ability they hold until they take one.

Despite finding a fresh angle on one of cinema's most oversaturated genres, Project Power never fully capitalises on that potential. Like the streaming service's other summer genre exercise The Old Guard, its hooky premise is trapped in a generic plot involving a shadowy organisation led by a cabal of boring baddies.

Project Power has considerable style yet a disappointing lack of substance - but an attention-grabbing performance from Dominique Fishback and an intriguing twist on superpowers give it just enough juice.