The Protege (2021)

[Drunk Monk]

Maggie Q, Samuel MF Jackson and Michael Keaton are elite assassins. Some tasty ultravi if you can overlook some gaping plot holes and logic flaws. 

Maggie starts out looking a bit ragged, but then cleans up looking fine in assassin cat suits and sexy red evening gowns. Samuel is the same as always. Michael delivers some surprisingly decent action with some good stunt doubles. The three seem to be phoning in their lines - they almost get a chemistry going but not quite. 

There’s a good flirt fight between Maggie and Michael which I liked choreographically but couldn’t hang with given that Michael is past 70 and Maggie is in her mid 40s. For something so female empowered (Maggie kicks a lotta ass here) that spoiled it.

I know too much about Maggie from Daniel Wu - they dated for a bit. I’ve always liked her but I always think about some of the stories Danny told me. 

Some of the musical bits tried too hard to be cool and missed. But the action was tight - decent fire fights and Mano a Mano. It’s a total fast forward to the fight scene flick.

Not D00M recommended except for the Yeti who shares my love of ultravi & Maggie and maybe cf (can’t remember if he’s on the Maggie fanboy boat too). It’s nice to see she still delivers her femme fatale when she’s on the precipice of aging out in Hollywood.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Enjoyed it. I found Keaton to be a very good heavy, which I did not expect.

[cranefly]

I might have to check this out -- for Maggie.  Unless I run into Daniel Wu, and he's in a gossipy mood.

As for Keaton, he's been an invisible presence in Hollywood for decades (I thought he'd stopped acting, except for a couple rare vehicles).  Turns out he's been doing a lot of topnotch work, and I just didn't notice.

Criterion needs to do a retrospective on him.

[Drunk Monk]

Enjoyed it. I found Keaton to be a very good heavy, which I did not expect.

Thought you might. Keaton was really good. But come on now, not good enough for Maggie and their quarter century age gap.

[Greg]

Keaton was a good villain in Spiderman: Homecoming.

[Drunk Monk]

Keaton was the best Dogberry ever. 

I like Keaton a lot. Birdman was one-er-gasmic.

And I liked the flirt fight in this. It just ended in a way that didn't work out for me. Their age gap is old enough to drink and then some...

I might have to check this out -- for Maggie.  

[Greg]

I wish I'd seen this review before I caught this last not on the Tudum.

Maggie Q was terrible. Michael Keaton seemed like he was in some other film. Sam L was himself.

They needed to get a better stunt double for Keaton. It was so obvious when the stunt double was doing the fight, especially when they would cut in to Keaton for a close up. I never really got a feel for why the people in the film were doing what they were doing. Why was the bad black man trying to kill Keaton. Why did they all of a sudden have t wipe out the assassins gand and shoot up Maggie Q's bookshop? Was it all about keeping his identity a secret? If you are going to use Vietnam as a backdrop, it would have been nice to see a little more Vietnam. And why do those people pay fealty to the head honcho? Keaton has way more charisma and presence when they are in the same scenes together.

Yes, I hate. But my hate is pure.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

G-Man, back on form. Vanity plate: H8TER