This summer will see a flood of quiet movie releases as the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic starts to wind down a little here in the States, and among them will be The Protégé.
Originally slated for an April release, it seems the newest flick from director Martin Campbell has been pushed to August 20th for a national release in the US. The film is headlined by Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, and of course – the incomparable Maggie Q.
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. As Anna becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer, their confrontation turns deadly, and the loose ends of a life spent killing weave themselves ever tighter.
Who doesn’t love a good revenge flick with a kickass anti-hero?
In our estimation, Maggie Q earned herself an action movie years ago when she was achieving the impossible with Tom Cruise in MI:3 and face-kicking Bruce Willis in Live Free or Die Hard. Instead, she followed up those roles with lots of stead TV work. First playing the lead in Nikita for The CW, the second such show based on the 1991 Luc Besson film La Femme Nikita. After that, she joined Kiefer Sutherland in his Post-Jack Bauer life on Designated Survivor. But now we see her taking the spotlight flanked by multiple Hollywood icons.
This also marks another step in the Michael Keaton renaissance, who seemed to be all over the place the last few years – and we couldn’t be happier about that.
Director Martin Campbell has been relatively quiet over the past decade following the debacle that was Green Lantern, but prior to that he proved adept at more Earth-bound action with two of the better installments in the James Bond franchise – GoldenEye and Casino Royale – and he recently reteamed with Pierce Brosnan for the Jackie Chan-led action thriller The Foreigner, which was solid, but not spectacular.
Campbell reteams with Cinematographer David Tattersall, whom he worked on The Foreigner and Vertical Limit – which admittedly are not the two best movies on the resume of either of these men, but Tattersall has plenty of other pedigree to lean on. Separate from Campbell he shot Con Air, The Majestic, all three of the Star Wars prequels, and a Bond flick of his own – Die Another Day. Plus a whole lot of Young Indiana Jones.
I cheated myself
– Amy Winehouse
Like I knew I would
I told you I was trouble
You know that I’m no good
Images: Lionsgate
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