The Protégé (4/10)

by Tony Medley

109 Minutes

R.

There is a terrific word that producers of thrillers should learn. That word is “plausible.” this truly silly film would have been less silly and more compelling if there were one or two scenes that could be interpreted as being plausible. Alas, after 109 minutes a plausible scene never appeared.

Written by Richard Wenk and directed by Martin Campbell, we are to believe that Anna (Maggie Q) is the world’s best contract killer, trained by Moody (Samuel L. Jackson).

The plot is not very complex. Anna is out to kill somebody, and somebody is out to kill Anna. The reason is obtuse to give it the best of it. But since they keep making stuff like this, apparently viewers don't care. All they want to see is mayhem. And that's what they get.

Inserted into the movie for some unknown reason is another contract killer, Rembrandt (Michael Keaton). I guess he is in there to insert some potential sexual sparks flying between Anna and Michael. I didn't see any, but Campbell makes a weak effort to create them.

I have liked Michael Keaton and have wondered why he doesn't work more and why he isn't a bigger star. It's sad to see him waste his talents on a movie like this, but at least it's work.

Naturally there are plotholes galore, lots of blood and carnage, a beheading, ridiculous fights, etc., etc., etc. It's got everything that today's thriller fan could want except a car chase. For that you should be thankful because if what they put in this movie for special effects is an example of Campbell's devotion to verisimilitude, any car chase he inserted in the movie would be as ludicrous as the karate fights and gunfights.

Remember those old westerns of the 30s, 40s, and 50s where six guns shot hundreds of bullets without reloading? Well, they have nothing on the automatic pistols in this movie that shoot thousands of bullets a minute without a pause.