![]() Michael Keaton is spectacular as Rembrandt. Q is put through the wringer and firmly establishes herself as an action star with work we haven’t seen since Nikita. These calmer moments feature Anna hunting down clues and investigating Moody’s mystery, as well as having her on the wrong end of “enhanced” interrogation when the big boss captures her. I found these dramatic points good counters to the high-energy action. There is a great deal of downtime from the gunplay and martial arts. In addition, there’s an apartment fight scene that is absolutely jaw-dropping and the most memorable moment of the film. Instead, we get several fun car and bike chases through the streets of Saigon, wonderfully choreographed hand-to-hand knife and gunfights, and it all ends with a nice explosion. The action beats are much more grounded and almost entirely devoid of CG “fix it in post” nonsense. If you’re tired of the over-the-top stunts from the Fast and the Furious franchise, The Protégé is the perfect alternative. “… prolific assassin Rembrandt… kills Anna’s associates…” Eventually, she is captured and tortured, and soon a world of deceptions and double-crosses from Moody’s past is unveiled. Unfortunately, their investigation draws the interest of prolific assassin Rembrandt (Michael Keaton), whose team kills Anna’s associates, including Moody, Three Days of the Condor fashion. The job is to find the lost son of a business tycoon who died decades ago. It would allow her to quit the business and follow her dream of running a vintage bookstore. Moody’s coughing is cinematic shorthand for the fact he is dying and proposes “one last job” that will set up Anna for life. Now in the present, Anna and Moody have done quite well as killers for hire. So think The Professional and advance it a few decades. In a moment of compassion, he “adopts” Anna then trains and mentors her to become a top-notch assassin over the following decades. As a young girl in a post-war Viet Nam, she was rescued from a group of traffickers by hired assassin Moody (Samuel L. ![]() Instead, they have to be good, and thankfully, director Campbell, screenwriter Richard Wenk, and Q deliver. But the reason films like this succeeds is not because they’re first at this or that. Overall, The Protégé is a film you can put on if you're bored, but otherwise, it's a middle-of-the-road story.Martin Campbell’s The Protégé stars Maggie Q, who, in turn, is the first Southeast Asian to star in a big-budget Hollywood action movie. But if the story were stronger, Q and her castmates would be better served. Keaton and Jackson do their best with their roles, and Q is entertaining enough in her action sequences. Characterizations are simplistic and expected, and the reasons why people are out to get Moody are ill-defined. But that alone can't save a film that has a weak story. Having Q and Jackson in the main roles is a welcome change of pace and proof that Hollywood is at least trying to heed the call of being more diverse in its casting. The film follows the usual cliché of an assassin out for revenge, with the most notable departure from the norm being that an Asian American woman and a Black man are the two lead characters. However, the storyline doesn't have enough staying power to fuel several films. But it does feel like the filmmakers might have had high hopes of starting their own franchise centered on a kick-butt female action star. To be fair, The Protégé isn't trying to be another John Wick. This action film tries to bring something new to a genre that was already irrevocably changed (and challenged by) the John Wick franchise, but it falls short.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |