Friday, August 20, 2021

The Protégé

Maggie Q is the protégé of Samuel L. Jackson. He found and rescued her in Vietnam in the 90's, adopted her and trained her into the family business (assassinations). She is very good at it. The current job they are working on is a "make amends" type of job for Jackson that takes her reluctantly back to Vietnam. There she re-encounters Michael Keaton and the two face off in a love-hate sort of tussle. While largely staying within the action-assassin formula, Q and Keaton have a well-written relationship and they portray a chemistry that is fun to watch. 

The most surprising event of the movie is at the end when the credits started to flash. The screen goes black and the first thing you see is a big 'Michael Keaton' on the screen. Wait, what? Maggie Q is so clearly the protagonist and star, carrying this entire film (she is the title character after all). Why does Keaton get first bill? Normally I don't notice that stuff, and maybe it is just that I was so engaged with Q's performance throughout, but it struck me as unfortunate.

4 stars (out of 5)

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