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Keaton steals the show in Kiwi director’s action-packed Protege

The Protege (R16, 109 mins) Directed by Martin Campbell Reviewed by ★★★1⁄2

HJames Croot

astings-born Martin Campbell is the Kiwi responsible for two of the best Bond movies of the past 30 years.

Campbell has helped reinvigorate the flagging franchise twice, when Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig’s opening salvos GoldenEye and Casino Royale successfully brought back swagger and grit respectively – just when they were needed most.

But among an impressive CV that also include dual Zorro sanda duo of memorable 1980s British mini-series in Reilly Ace of Spies and Edge of Darkness, there have also been a few duds (DC disaster

Green Lantern, dodgy Kiwi-shot mountaineering tale Vertical Limit

and Angelina Jolie-starring borefest Beyond Borders).

However, after a dry spell in which he has only helmed a single feature film (2017’s Jackie Chanstarrer The Foreigner) in the decade since Lantern, Campbell is back with a bang – of sorts.

The Protege is a breathless, action-packed, fitfully excellent adventure that feels like two different movies not quite seamlessly bolted together.

At once, a part of the seemingly endless current wave of John Wickesque revenge movies, this also gives off a 90s throwback vibe, as its inter-generational The Professional conceit intertwines with a cat-and-mouse game that evokes memories of the BrosnanRusso

Thomas Crown Affair

remake or the creaky Zeta Jones-Connery coupling in

Entrapment.

What is for certain is The Protege finally provides Hawaiian-born, Polish-IrishVietnamese actor Maggie Q (TV’s

Designated Survivor, Nikita) with the feature film role her talents deserve. She proves more than adept at the inevitable physical demands and the gravitas and comedic timing to bring contract killer Anna to life.

Rescued from a destructive path at a very young age by globetrotting assassin Moody (Samuel L Jackson in one of his typical scenestealing, scenerychewing cameos), under his guidance the Vietnam-born Anna develops the skills needed for a successful career in ‘‘finding people who can’t be found’’.

A cat owner and skilled pie maker, she also runs a rare books shop in London, using acquisitions trips as cover for her more nefarious operations.

But when Moody suggests their latest job involves returning to Da Nang, she balks. ‘‘Our past is never where we left it,’’ Moody assures her. ‘‘We all have scars. If you stare at them long enough, you will remember how you got them.’’

Those are words that will haunt her when, just a few months later, her world is shattered in a single night. Moody is gunned down, and her beloved bookshop goes up in flames. That’s the moment she decides to take the fight to those who would dare hurt her and the man who not only ‘‘saved her life, but gave her a life’’.

Cue plenty of ruthlessly efficient kills, as Anna somewhat inevitably makes her way up the bad-guy food chain. But while Campbell captures the frenetic, kinetic action well and Richard Wenk’s script (Denzel Washington’s Equalizer movies and Magnificent 7 remake) tries vainly to inject some fresh ideas into a fairly predictable premise, the arrival of one man sparks The Protege into life.

At first, Michael Keaton’s Michael Rembrandt appears to be just a stunt cameo, a dilettante client trying to buy a birthday present for his wife (‘‘Books are not like steaks, they don’t come medium rare,’’ Anna barks, after he asks for something a little less pricey than her opening gambit).

But we all know he has a bigger part to play – and so it proves, as he completely transforms the movie and Q’s character, thanks to his witty bon mots, acerbic asides and the frisson they generate between them. It’s ridiculously implausible – and yet it makes for compelling viewing.

Whether it’s comparing bone broth recipes, him complimenting a henchman on his suits, or conducting a kitchen-based brouhaha using whatever equipment is at hand, you never quite know what Keaton’s Rembrandt will do next, but you can’t wait to see it.

Often, such a performance could destabilise a movie and undermine the lead, but here it seems to spur Q on to greater heights. She battles and banters with equal ferocity and flame, even if Anna is the ‘‘woman walking over a shark tank in high winds’’ that Rembrandt endearingly describes her as.

Throw in a pitch perfectly offthe-wall, all-over-the-shop soundtrack that includes choice cuts by Isaac Hayes, Nina Simone and David Marks, and the result is a wild ride that is weirdly memorable and instantly forgettable. The Protege is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Entertainment

en-nz

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282123524793739

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