3.5/5
Power Play.
113 Mins. Starring: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Machine Gun Kelly, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker & Courtney B. Vance. Director: Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost.
Red pill, blue pill. Yellow one? Rocking the Murphy 'Delirious' red leather jacket like he was still rolling with Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver', Jamie Foxx is about to catch more than a bullet. The man who thinks he can play Mike Tyson like his old friend Will Smith thinks he can beat him is popping pills like a Chris Evans 'Push' with Scarlett Johansson 'Lucy', or Bradley Cooper, 'Limitless' possibilities as this regular Joe becomes a superhero. Cranking up the voltage like Jason Statham, Netflix are adapting their own superheroes for hire and your stream like 'The Old Guard' movie, or the second season of 'The Umbrella Academy', now they are cancelling more Marvel street level heroes and shows than The Punisher. Straight out the Foxxhole, Jamie is no stranger to Spawning superheroes. His Tyson biopic isn't the only thing he's got boxing clever in the ring right now, seconds out. And who could forget his epic, Electro villain in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' too? Looking like he was in the Dr. Manhattan blue man group, whilst shutting down Times Square like a Broadway show below those red steps as everyone watched man. The 'Just Mercy' and 'Soloist' dramatic actor who won a Best Actor Oscar for 'Ray', but can still switch keys to big blockbusters like 'Collateral' (and still get Best Supporting nominations for them in the same year like Scarlett Johansson. All whilst crossing over and winning a Grammy to go in his trophy cabinet too like Streisand), has played a President and a 'Django'. All whilst still sidekicking it like 'Robin Hood's' Little John, the Tubbs to Colin Farrell's 'Miami Vice' Crockett, or being in the greatest boxer of all-times corner as Bundini Brown for Will Smith's 'Ali'. Now he teams up with the ultimate Robin as he hits record with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (still love that Boy Wonder reveal), like the man who can host everything from the ESPY's to an inventive 'Beat Shazam' game show the way this comedian cracks wise was getting back in the booth. You hear that?
'Point Break' throwing his badge into Gotham's Hudson like tossing a cigarette, or his John Blake beat cop character at the end of 'The Dark Knight Rises', one of the best things about the conclusion to Nolan's trilogy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has almost been as disheartened with Hollywood over the past few years. But now the married man in charge of his own entertainment enterprise (hitRECord...trust me, do it like Ben Stiller in 'Starsky & Hutch') is back with a big three of movies in 2020. Apart from some 'Knives Out' and 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' vocal cameos, the 'Looper', 'Snowdon' and 'The Walk' actor has been out the game for a few. But now 'Don Jon' is up from a dream back like running and dancing on the 'Inception' ceiling like Lionel Richie, or his Fred Astaire tribute a decade after his most iconic moment in movies. As the '500 Days Of Summer' villain returns a mile-high, piloting the claustrophobic '7500' like a 'Buried' Ryan Reynolds meets a 'Non-Stop' Liam Neeson. And this...all before 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' for Aaron Sorkin's epic ensemble of a Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Matten II, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong, Frank Langella, William Hurt and Michael Keaton courtroom. Robin teams up with Electro like Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborne, Green Goblin for this anti-hero take on the genre that's all a 'Chronicle' of enhanced individuals, no capes. And the always heroic and charismatic Foxx and heroic and considerate Levitt, levitate this one out of a bigger hole than a superhero landing...and boy do they stick it. Superman ain't got s### on this! Bulletproof like Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler. Or looking like you've been slapped by a bass fish. Flammable like The Human Torch, just like how that big guy under the 'Umbrella' cribs off The Thing. As cold as Emma Frost ice. Invisible like the H.G. Wells man Johnny Depp didn't turn into as 'The Handmaid's Tale's' Elizabeth Moss starred in this years reboot, blink and you miss it before corona closed down cinemas. Netflix is now streams ahead with this project. No one service should have all that power.
New Orleans and a Mardi Gras of superpowers in Crescent City. NOLA with Tha Carter, Lil' Wayne rapping over the Louisiana soundtrack, the block is hot and the swamp is thick. And there's more pills in this drug run than a packet of Skittles...all the colours. With the double team of a cop and a former soldier pushing the power with their first meet with heat, almost halfway through this picture. As Foxx unloads with the 'Sleepless' blunderbuss and Gordon-Levitt riding shotgun, polices the city in time with his classic Casio and a Saints jersey like the cop he is with the badge hanging over. Dirt bike taking down criminals in Pelicans Anthony Davis jerseys like that trade. Bringing big blockbuster excitement to the Big Easy like Zion and all the trumpets as the horn blares like the end of the fourth quarter in this French one. Still for all the Superdome big names, it's 'The Hate U Give', 'The Deuce' and 'Show Me A Hero' star Dominique Fishback who really does in her coming of age movie as the teen hits the scene, rapping it up with her double threat talent like Foxx. Amongst all the other actors making their play, from 'Westworld' and 'Focus' star Rodrigo Santoro staring down the scope of villainy, to rapper Machine Gun Kelly (who also starred in Netflix's 'Bird Box', even of you blindfold missed it before your eyes) literally getting as hot as his bars. But it's 'The People vs O.J. Simpson's' Johnnie Cochran and 'The Mummy' star Courtney B. Vance who with actual courtesy, professionalism and respect, helps this B movie advance to a blockbuster. No 'Bad Lieutenant' here in the Cage. Although there's more than meets the eye with 'Project Almanac' star Amy Landecker for this project X. Just like the deluxe directors working their own double act. 'Paranormal Activity's' spirited Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost (yep the 'Catfish' guys and that's no trick). Hollywood South really is making movies right now in more ways than one for the city that care forgot. As this movie that is all about Clint Eastwood's (nice 'Bridges Of Madison County' reference for a writer who has just read it) and seismographs punk, puts on for the N.O. city in more ways than one. All the way to an epic end, set-piece soaked in Mississippi rain as Foxx descends the stairs like Django off the chain. Making sure we don't forget about Hurricane Katrina in the city that Bush did. The Easy that survived all the hard times. From the flood to the drought. Once again real power is the toast of this town like Bourbon Street. And you don't need no pill to project that. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'Push', 'Limitless', 'The Old Guard'.
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