{"id":23358,"date":"2021-08-19T16:00:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23358"},"modified":"2021-08-19T16:00:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T23:00:21","slug":"the-protege-delivers-pulpy-action-thrills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23358","title":{"rendered":"THE PROT\u00c9G\u00c9 Delivers Pulpy Action Thrills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9454\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This feature from LionsGate opens at cinemas on August 20<sup>th<\/sup>.\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last few years haven\u2019t been the most dynamic for action\nmovie enthusiasts. With the exception of the John Wick franchise and the odd\ntitle here and there, pickings have been relatively slim and often unmemorable.\n<em>The Prot\u00e9g\u00e9<\/em> is the latest feature to provide audiences with some\nbutt-kicking and skull-cracking fights. Admittedly, it\u2019s a smaller movie and\nwon\u2019t be seen as a classic, but the title boasts seasoned director Martin\nCampbell (<em>The Mask of Zorro<\/em>, <em>GoldenEye<\/em>, <em>Casino Royale<\/em> and\nmost recently, <em>The Foreigner<\/em>) and an impressive supporting cast who deliver\nenough hits to provide some pulpy fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Protege-04-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23360\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anna Dutton (Maggie Q) is an assassin and, amusingly enough,\nbookstore owner who got into the killing business because of a brutal and\ntraumatizing childhood event in Vietnam. After being adopted by hit man Moody\nDutton (Samuel L. Jackson), Anna has followed in her guardian\u2019s profession. The\ntwo expertly track down and eliminate targets for clients. When Moody decides\nto look into an old file involving a murder carried out some 30 years earlier,\nhis actions set off a dangerous chain of events. Threatening figures arrive to\neliminate both the aged hitman and Anna. Anna escapes and attempts to find out\nwhat caused this attack, fighting off nasty employees working for a mysterious\noverseer. The most prominent pursuer is Rembrandt (Michael Keaton), a clever\nclean-up artist with a sharp mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Protege-02-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23364\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story itself is nothing new. The bad guys are large,\nvicious and unrelenting and even the good guys admit to having ambiguous morals\nand ethics, understanding and acknowledging that sooner or later they will all\nmeet a violent end. It does take a while for the chase between the lead and the\nvillains to really get up and running, but once it does the very game cast help\nsell the material. The likable lead shows off some incredible skills and\nabilities, but also finds herself frequently overwhelmed by the merciless\nforces out to get her. It does create some tension and an increased level of threat\nto the mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Protege-06-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23361\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s plenty of dark humor sprinkled throughout the deadly\nand more serious moments. Not all of it works, but there are plenty of\neffective verbal jabs between the leads. The Rembrandt character is also entertaining\nto watch and Keaton relishes the opportunity to play a heavy. His quips about the\ndimmer members of his crew often result in chuckles, as do his oddly\nflirtatious interactions with the protagonist. It\u2019s all outrageous to watch,\nbut the playfulness of the entire cast allows the dialogue to generate a bit of\ngallows humor. And, as expected, Jackson adds a few choice comments into the\nmix. Even supporting cast members like a biker named Billy Boy (Robert Patrick)\nadd a bit of welcome flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Protege-01-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23362\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the story is conventional and predictable in many\nrespects, the material doesn\u2019t always play out exactly as anticipated. There\nare a couple of eccentric spins thrown into seemingly familiar scenes that\nresult in several conversations and confrontations developing in an unexpected manner.\nAnd with director Campbell at the help, the fights are all extremely well-staged\nand thrilling to watch. Those who appreciate a gross-out moment or two in their\nbattle scenes will witness a lot of wince-inducing moments involving head\ntrauma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Again, action pictures like this are seemingly a dime a dozen and this revenge tale isn\u2019t likely to go down in the annals of history as a classic. However, the bone-breaking action is impressive and the lead and cast members are clearly having a great deal of fun. Overall, everyone involved in front of and behind the camera manages to wring some entertainment out of the events depicted. Ultimately, <em>The Prot\u00e9g\u00e9<\/em> provides enough pulpy thrills and excitement to earn itself a recommendation.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This feature from LionsGate opens at cinemas on August 20th. The last few years haven\u2019t been the most dynamic for action movie enthusiasts. With the exception of the John Wick franchise and the odd title here and there, pickings have been relatively slim and often unmemorable. The Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 is the latest feature to provide audiences [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,697,12473,12912,13303,13306,13800,17598,21950,21951,21952,21953],"class_list":["post-23358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-action","tag-lionsgate","tag-maggie-q","tag-martial-arts","tag-martin-campbell","tag-michael-keaton","tag-samuel-l-jackson","tag-the-protege","tag-the-protege-film-review","tag-the-protege-movie-review","tag-the-protege-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}