The Protégé
review by Bobby Blakey
Through the years Maggie Q has proven herself in the action genre with films like Mission Impossible III, the Divergent series, Live Free or Die Hard, Nikita and more. Now she is teaming up with Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson with Casino Royale and The Foreigner director Martin Campbell for her latest flick The Protégé. Could this film bring the high octane action fans love or will it fail to hit its mark?
The Protégé follows Anna is the world’s most skilled contract killer who was rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody and trained in the family business. When Moody – the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival – is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves ever tighter.
I don’t think we get enough Maggie Q in the action genre. She has taken on a lot of other types of roles over the years, but I always love seeing her in these kinds of films. Add Jackson and Keaton to the mix and I was pretty stoked to see what they came up with. While there are some clichéd elements here and there this film still kicks all kinds of ass.
The story is pretty simple and straight forward from what you see in the trailer. I was honestly irritated with the trailer as it seemed like it gave too much away, but there are some good layers and twists here that keeps the film moving at a fast pace throughout. Some might complain that Q’s character is too emotionless, but for me that was the perfect way to present her given not only her profession, but the past that clearly still haunts her.
She is great in the role with always bringing the acting to the forefront, but also
the action with is no surprise being her a protégé of sorts of Jackie Chan herself early in her career. The other side of this that really delivers is the always great Keaton. His role is clever and engaging making it a character that is constantly surprising. Their witty banter together and ongoing game of cat and mouse makes the whole film worth the time. Jackson is great as well, but not given near as much to do as I would prefer.
The film is jam packed with some great gun toting action as well as fight sequences. I was so pleased to see that everyone got to get in on the action and a chance to shine, but this is Maggie Qs show all the way and she brings her bad ass A game.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including a deleted scene, trailer, commentary and featurettes taking you behind bringing this action flick to life. Grab your copy of The Protégé when it hits 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on October 19th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.