7/30/2023 0 Comments Protege filmQ finds fun ways to bring a sense of depth to Anna’s character, thus managing to ever so slightly outshine her counterparts. Maggie Q’s portrayal as Anna steals the show and may very well be a major highlight of her career to date. The Protégé comes with some very favorable characters, handled with keen direction by Campbell. As Anna seeks her revenge, a cat-and-mouse game unfolds between the assassin and crime boss. When Moody is suddenly murdered following his 70 th birthday, Anna must take on a syndicate of crooked killers, led by Rembrandt (Michael Keaton, Spider-Man: Homecoming), an “enigmatic” leader who takes a romantic liking to Anna. Jackson, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard) and trained to be the best killer-for-hire possible. The film follows Anna (Maggie Q, Fantasy Island), who is rescued from death as a young girl by skilled assassin Moody (Samuel L. Like so many of the hapless anonymous bad guys, it just can’t hit the mark.The Protégé (Martin Campbell, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars.ĭirector Martin Campbell ( The Foreigner) takes us on a true joyride with his newest movie, showcasing several exhilarating action sequences that blend perfectly with fun comedic timing, all put together to create a whirlwind adventure from start to finish. But they can only do so much, and ultimately the film feels flat. Chief among them are Maggie Q, Keaton and Jackson. “The Protégé” has so many cool elements, so many reasons that it should be better than it is. She’s compelling enough on her own to make you care about the character, but the filmmakers don’t give her a lot of help. We get some backstory during the flashbacks, but for the most part, the film presents her as a killing machine, without a lot of time for much else (except an unusually thorough knowledge of rare books). Maggie Q, meanwhile, also makes an icy cool seem effortless. (Which is also why Keaton was the best Bruce Wayne of all.) He’s always so much fun to watch. Keaton is kind of like Bill Murray in that he almost always plays the same sort of character - a charming smart-aleck who is clever enough to be a step ahead of almost everyone else, which makes him unflappable. Jackson does the usual Jackson thing - laces quips with profanities in a way that is somehow still funny. However, the film also isn’t afraid to, ahem, dispatch characters when you aren’t expecting it. There are also some rather absurd twists, and of course for the story to work people who normally never miss with a gun suddenly can’t hit a thing. That doesn’t mean Rembrandt doesn’t take the job seriously, though. There are some decent surprises as Anna goes after the villain, a really bad man Rembrandt is protecting, albeit in Keaton’s detached, cynical way. Which is not to say there isn’t room for flirting while you’re flinging sharp objects at each other or dodging bullets. It’s a sort of delicate dance that typically results in romance, except this time they’re trying to kill each other. Soon events will pit Anna and Rembrandt squarely against each other. He and Anna engage in meet-cute banter.Įxcept this isn’t that, really. One day a man named Rembrandt (Keaton) walks in, looking for a gift for his boss’ wife. Anna has a rare book shop as a front, though she really does love and know books. Moody makes a pretty good living, judging by the castle-like home he lives in. We’ll discover as Campbell goes back and forth in time that Moody takes Anna in and teaches her what he knows best. The only person alive is a young Anna - and she’s holding a gun. The film begins in Vietnam in the 1990s, when Moody (Jackson) comes upon a bloodbath, with a bunch of tough-looking sorts shot to death. Watching her interactions with Keaton and Jackson keeps the film from failing - as do the expertly choreographed, bone-shattering fight scenes - but it’s impossible not to believe this could have been better. It does the minimum work of getting Maggie Q’s Anna, an expert assassin, from one scene to the next, but not a lot more. Director Martin Campbell does a good job with the action - the violence is “John Wick” level. Jackson together in a twisty action thriller sounds like a great idea. Putting Maggie Q, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. “The Protégé” is one of those films that sounds so good on paper that maybe it should have stayed there.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |