Synopsis: Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, Anna is the world’s most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody is brutally killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows. (IMDB)
The Protege is an exciting romp across the planet with crowd favorite Samuel L. Jackson and his rescued god- daughter Maggie Q.
The story is about a master assassin and his assistant who travel the world taking out bad guys for high payouts. Martin Campbell stands out with the direction of this film. I thoroughly enjoyed and was fooled at times with where the story was leading to. The performances in this film are dazzling Samuel L. Jackson delivers his A+ performance that he has become known for. He plays master assassin Moody in this film. His assisstant Anna played my Maggie Q is equally as amazing as she holds up the bulk of the film. I really enjoyed the ride that this film delivered the writing great and a lot of the twists worked really well. Other than that I thought a few tacked on characters were a little hammy but overall the bones of this movie are really good!
The film opens with a few scenes that show how well Moody and Anna work together as their bond has grown in their over 30 years of knowing each other. Moody shields Anna from her traumatizing past and her story mainly covers dealing with her past. Moody is attacked by a mysterious man named Rembrandt (played by Michael Keaton) who first visits Anna’s rare book store. All of the scenes between Anna and Rembrandt have a steel-cable tension that is so fun to watch.
After Moody is seemingly attacked Anna must travel back to Vietnam reluctantly because that is where the clues to Moody’s killer are but also the country where she endured her childhood trauma which is told in the movie.
Just about every scene in this film was a revelation or enticing lead-in to another subplot which led up to an explosive ending and a fantastic tie up of all the loose ends of the story. I am a new fan of Martin Campbell’s work because of this movie and I may have to write more about his work and study it.
As far as the action goes in this film I really enjoyed it but it did not go without classic action movie traditions. The main characters heal from gunshot wounds after their 30 seconds scene of putting pressure on it and the evil henchman have 400 bullet magazines in their guns. Nothing too surprising and definitely needed spice to fit the category of action movie.
Popcorn Movie | 10/10 | Great Story, Unexpected Twists and Turns, the side characters are forgettable but that is OK
Skills Give Life To Dreams 