Machine Gun Kelly on fire, Casey Neistat acting. Oh good God and whatever the hell this is. "Who is that?", "No idea".
[Screams]
Project Power is Netflix's latest superhero-inspired action flick that asks the question, "What if drugs could give you superpowers?"
"Mayday, Mayday"
"We have a crackhead lifting up the box in this video"
We'll be taking a deep dive into Project Power's ending, pointing out its hidden easter eggs and how it sets itself
up for a potential sequel
So pop a pill and make sure to like and subscribe because here we go
Project Power begins where it ends at the docks in New Orleans next to a ship called Genesis
It's a bit on the nose that the ship where a new more powerful evolution of human will be created
Is named after the first book in the Bible that recounts the creation of humanity, Genesis means the origin or beginning
So it makes sense It happens right at the beginning of the film
You can kind of make up the name of the company responsible for this pill here, Telios
Which comes from the Greek word for perfection, an apt name for a company that wants to essentially create the next evolution of humanity
Our goal is simple
the next evolution of the human species, so Telios begins the process of testing the drug out by
handing it out to local drug dealers like Newt here
And these drugs are insanely powerful allowing the user to unlock parts of their DNA, giving them
superpowers for 5 minutes. The drug has different effects for each user
Some can turn into fire like Newt, steel skin like Frank and the ability to grow your nails like Meg
The pill can also have negative effects like some poor bastards who just explode that's why the drug is under quote-unquote clinical trials
We learn from this guy here known as Biggie for reasons that will become apparent that Telios wants to harness the power and make it
permanent. Imagine the power you could wield if you had an army of super-powered soldiers
That's why he brings a group of rich investors to witness this power firsthand. But, before we get there we're introduced to Robin
Reilly, a high-schooler pushing the power pill to pay for her mother's surgery and medical needs
She's actually working alongside New Orleans Police Officer Frank played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to keep the drug off the streets
It's kind of a mutually beneficial relationship. She gets paid and he makes sure one less pill is out of the hands of criminals
He's seen how one person on the drug can take down an entire precinct
And he wants to get the bottom of who's behind it. Frank is the stereotypical good bad
cop, even doing impressions of Clint Eastwood, the actor whose many rules portrayed that trope
He pays off dealers, but for the right reasons even giving up his bike to Robin
He uses the drug, too
But only to take down others who use it. On the other end of the spectrum is Art portrayed by Jamie Foxx
Like Frank, he wants to bring down the organization that is creating these pills, but unlike Frank
He's not motivated by a noble sense of making the city a safer place
He wants one thing and one thing only the safe return of his daughter and he'll do anything to get that
Even if it means kidnapping a high-schooler, he does bad things but for good reasons so, Frank and Art are quite similar
They're just motivated in different ways. Art tracks down Newt and I love this subtle line as he answers the door "You Alone?"
"Are we all?". We haven't really met Art yet, nor do we know about his daughter?
but this line sets up his
motivation his loneliness brought upon by the loss of his daughter
Art wants to know who Newt's supplier is but Newt pops a couple pills in order to fight him off
His power is turning into flames which ironically is also what happens when Eminem drops a diss track on him
🎵Eminem - Rap God 🎵
While Newt spontaneously combusts after OD'ing on the pill, we get our first glimpse of Art's daughter via
flashback as we'll learn throughout the film Art's daughter was taken from him by Telios
She is the first human to have an ability that doesn't require the pill
making her a priceless lab rat for Tellios to experiment on. You
see years ago, Art was a ranger for the U. S Military and Telios, being a defense contractor took a group of these rangers and performed
experiments on them
"Tried to turn us into superheroes". In brief flashbacks
we see that Art's power was unlocked by Telios
but he managed to escape
eventually having a daughter named Tracy and it seems as though the ability to unlock one's
superpower was passed on to his daughter kinda like fetal alcohol syndrome
Yes,
that weird scene where the teacher talks about how taking drugs during
pregnancy can have adverse effects on children applies to the power drug as well. Tracy has somehow inherited power through her father
but we'll get to that in a bit. By using Newt's phone to schedule a meeting, Art tracks down Robin and
kidnaps her hoping to get a lead on this mysterious bearded man
The man who stole his daughter. They make their way to an Asian supermarket and learn that not only is Telios distributing the drug
But they're also tracking its users. You can even make out Youtuber Casey Neistat here
Another interesting thing to note is that the office is actually located on the back of a truck making it a mobile unit
This allows them to go about undetected
heck even their main research facility is located on a boat where they can move from port to port. Although Art and Robin's relationship gets
off to a rocky start when he kidnaps her, they soon form a bond
Robin has lost a father and Art has lost his daughter
There's even a scene where he mistakes her for his girl
This love for his daughter
and children in general is shown in a quick scene at the gas station where he tries to make this little girl smile
These small moments show us his humanity, a humanity rooted in the love for his daughter. Robin ends up helping him for cash
cash covered in blood
Literal blood money and as she makes the decision whether or not to help him, a soup can rolls by her foot
She was supposed to pick up soup for her mother, reminding her of the things we do for family
And with Art telling her he's doing this for his daughter
She eventually ends up helping him out, taking him to the vet clinic where her mom works to stitch him up
There's some kind of irony here that as he's being patched up
There are caged animals in the background just like he used to be caged up by Telios and how his own daughter is as well
But there's a deeper discussion that takes place between Art and Robin that gets to the social commentary the film is trying to explore
It's that the system is designed to keep the people in power, in power
And the people not in power down. "Because in the real world the power goes to where it always goes to the people
that already have it". Robin is the perfect example of how the system makes it difficult for her to do anything but sell drugs
Her mother is a hard-working vet tech but still can't afford to pay for medical bills or surgery. Robin
can't get a job past minimum wage
so, the easiest option for her to make fast cash is selling drugs
Art tells her that the way out of the system is to find what you're good at
Something we see at the end of the film when one of her rap songs makes it on the radio
and we see her by the pier writing lyrics
Meanwhile Frank is after Art after being told by the chief that Art is the one behind pushing these drugs
As we'll find out Chief Crane is part of this whole conspiracy
He's working with Telios to bring down Art who could jeopardize their entire plan
I also want to mention that throughout much of the film Frank wears a New Orleans Saints Jersey. He's the good guy
so, Saints is an appropriate jersey, but it's the name on the back, which is more interesting, number 37
Steve Gleason. Steve was a safety for the Saints from 2006 to
2007 where he's best known for one of the most memorable blocks in football history, a block which led to the Saints first
point in 21 months after the Superdome was closed due to Hurricane Katrina. In 2011 Gleason revealed
He was battling ALS and became an advocate for ALS awareness, eventually being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions
So, it's kind of fitting the heroic character in this story wears the jersey of a heroic character in real life
Frank ends up joining forces with Art after he finds out the truth, that Art's daughter was captured so that the pill could be
synthesized and tested on the New Orleans populace once it gets mass-produced
However, the problem will spread all across the world. "If they can stabilize it, then they'll mass produce it.
So whatever's happening here
is gonna start happening everywhere". Art turns himself into Telios as a part of a greater plan to save his daughter. There we meet
Head Scientist Gardner and learn her justification for unleashing dangerous drugs and performing experiments on children. She believes
she's a pioneer ushering inhumanity to its next logical evolution
she brings up the example of Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose cancer cells were studied because
unlike normal people cells that died when exposed to cancer
hers doubled. The experiments done to her helped scientists better understand how viruses work
The effect of radiation on the body and ultimately played a large role in the development of the polio vaccine. Perhaps it's a coincidence,
but both Henrietta and Tracy are women of color. Gardner believes the ends justify the means
That it's okay to do a little bad for the greater good
Which seems to be a recurring theme throughout this film. Before Art is saved by Frank
He hints at his powers by comparing it to that of a Pistol Shrimp, a Pistol Shrimp can fire bullets of bubbles at its foes
so strong and fast that the sound is louder than an actual gunshot
This makes them pound for pound one of the strongest animals on the planet as we'll see in the film's climax Art can fire off
tremendous bursts of energy
incinerating those around him. He's the pistol shrimp of New Orleans, but this energy takes its toll, essentially killing him in the process
Luckily, his daughter has the ability to heal
this is hinted at earlier when we see how a plant grows as she nears it as well as Biggie's presentation to the
investors where he talks about how some animals have the ability to heal themselves. Fun fact, the name Tracy is derived from Native
Irish meaning 'fighter' and 'superior'. As the characters come out victorious Art says his story is done
He has his daughter and he can live his life
There's also a great shot of his daughter taking off her medical bracelet symbolic of her newfound freedom. Frank
However hints at the bigger conspiracy that the government will likely not stop here
they need to be exposed potentially opening the doors for a sequel and Robin comes home and gives her mother the
much-needed money for her surgery
Oh and that can of soup which is a fun nod to earlier in the film
Robin's music is also heard on the radio leading us to believe she's put her life of selling drugs behind her
and has taken Art's advice to follow what she's good at
But, what superhero power do you think you'd unlock if you took the pill? Me?
The ability to know if a movie is good before I watch it. That's all for this video today
Please make sure to like and subscribe and for more bad takes you can follow me on twitter at thinkstoryyt
Until next time remember, Daddy loves you very much
[Outro Music]