Review: Netflix's 'Project Power' is more than just a superhero film, it's a blistering social critique

The high-octane film, starring Jamie Foxx, might be derivative at times, but is held up by solid performances

This image released by Netflix shows Jamie Foxx in a scene from "Project Power." (Netflix via AP)

Imagine taking a little pill that could make you strong and vibrant, one that unlocks your yearning potential. The pill in Netflix's Project Power gives you a superpower – invisibility, invulnerability, an elastic body and fiery skin. But there are two catches: the effect lasts for five minutes only and instant death is a possible side effect.

Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback star in this utterly satisfying, stylish, R-rated crime thriller that gets extra credit for adding a dash of social critique to its dazzling special effects.

The pills are glowing gelcaps that you twist to activate and swallow. Its creators say their product – called Power – can change the world and lots of ruthless people want to get their hands on it.

But first they need a place to test the unpredictable pills and one place turns out to be New Orleans – bringing together our motley crew of three heroes to fight against a shadowy conspiracy.

Foxx plays a disgruntled former military officer who has a personal reason fuelling his desire to upend the drug's distribution. Gordon-Levitt plays a cop not afraid to take the pill if it helps him catch bad guys. He resembles Mark Wahlberg, swaggering around in a New Orleans Saints American football jersey with a gun at his hip. Fishback is a high-school student by day and a Power dealer at night – but only to raise enough cash to take care of her ailing mom. She is also a fierce rap star, if only she believed in herself.

The three are up against a small army led by rich, faintly accented drug kingpins with glamorous jets and designer clothes.

Newcomer Mattson Tomlin's script is slightly derivative – mixing some 8 Mile with Limitless – but give him credit for making plenty of jokes about other movies, baking in discussion of social power structures and for frankly addressing race relations. At one point Fox's character looks at the schoolkid played by Fishback and tells her: "You are young. You are black. You are a woman. The system is designed to swallow you whole."

The film’s coherence falls apart at the end, but the performances from our three heroes are great, with Fox and Gordon-Levitt elevating the material with real pathos. Fishback manages to pull off being a tough and smart high-schooler even though she is almost 30.

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Nerve, Catfish) keep things tight and get help from some good visual-effects makers, especially when the film depicts how the pill changes regular people into crazed superhumans.

There is a brilliant fight sequence shot from inside a protective chamber and, in a first, a brutal death by way of an ice sculpture. That is cold.

Project Power nicely mixes elements of sci-fi and crime thriller to create a cool trip with a wink, set against a soundtrack that includes 2 Chainz, Nipsey Hussle and Curtis Mayfield.

'Project Power' is available to stream on Netflix now