The Protégé

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source: The Protégé

Initially I was thrilled about getting to sit down to watch "The Protége" from writer Richard Wenk and director Martin Campbell, but someone had mentioned that the movie wasn't really all that great. So it was with a bit of doubt that I sat down to watch "The Protége". Regardless of how it was playing out, then I would watch it, as the movie had a rather nice cast ensemble. And I must say that I am glad that I opted to watch the movie, because I happened to enjoy the movie. This was a good old fashioned action crime thriller, for better or worse. Sure, the storyline and plot may have been predictable and somewhat generic, but who cares? It made for good wholesome entertainment. The storyline is easily followed and doesn't really require all that much in the intellectual department, so you just switch off the old gray and lean back and enjoy the movie. And yeah, that was actually a good thing about the movie, because it is a munch-on-the-popcorn-and-enjoy-the-action kind of movie. "The Protége" has a good cast ensemble. And truth be told, of course I had to watch "The Protége" given the fact that Maggie Q was starring in it, as she tends to make some pretty decent action movies. And she was nicely cast for "The Protége", I will say that much. And it certainly was nice to have the likes of Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson in a movie such as this as well. There is a good amount of action and fight scenes throughout the course of "The Protége", which definitely help bring the movie up and into a good pacing. I was adequately entertained by "The Protége", and it is a movie well-worth watching if you like action crime thrillers. My rating of "The Protége" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) is a professional assassin and Anna (Maggie Q) is his protégé. They return to London after killing and stealing from a notorious gangster. She runs an antique book store and one day, the mysterious Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) walks in. This had some fun while Jackson remains on the screen. I thought he and Maggie Q work as a comedic action duo. She's the straight man. She doesn't talk much and Jackson can bounce anything off of her. The movie really loses something when it loses him. It becomes a derivative silent assassin movie when early on, it promised to be a fun irreverent blow-em-up movie. While he's gone, the movie feels like it lost something and it never really recovers it even after the reveal. This probably works better as a buddy killer comedy.

We've seen it all before but it's well made, the female killing action is fairly believable, Maggie is smoking, Keaton plays it just right. Think Mr. And Mrs. Smith between them. I'd watch a part 2.

Martin Campbell directed the landmark BBC thriller Edge of Darkness in 1985. He was then given the task to reboot the James Bond franchise twice. Nowadays Campbell is a veteran relegated to making B movies. The Protégé has plenty of raw action, some of the violence is hard edged. The plot is forgettable and half baked. Anna (Maggie Q) was taken in by an assassin called Moody (Samuel L Jackson) who found her as a child in Vietnam. Moody has trained Anna to be a contract killer. She also uses a vintage bookshop in London as a front. One day a man called Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) walks into her shop and Anna's world changes. Soon people she knows have been killed and Anna goes after the baddies for revenge. The finale ends up in Vietnam where Anna's traumatic past is revealed. Along the way Ann has several showdowns with the enigmatic Rembrandt who is a fixer for a shady billionaire philanthropist who once faked his own death. The Protégé is a slickly action thriller let down by a poor plot which holds little surprises. Maggie Q is fine. Samuel L Jackson can do this in his sleep. Keaton makes the most of the action scenes which is remarkable given his age. Although he gives the movie some class, you get the feeling he is slumming it after a career boost from movies such as Birdman and Spotlight.

Not too much on story but it was ok popcorn. Maggie Q, does a damn good job on film as she always brings her A game in anything she plays, so kudos to her for the that. And we all know Sam L is the hardest working man in showbiz, and he added nice little touch as well. And of course the legend M. Keaton. Although there wasn't much story, all three made the watch worthwhile popcorn. Oh yeah shot outs to T1000 Patrick Stewart. He didn't have much in this but he played a hell of role in one of my all time favs T2. This however was an ok one time watch.