The Protégé

Directed by Martin Campbell, The Protégé follows an elite assassin (Maggie Q’s Anna) as she embarks on a campaign of revenge after her mentor (Samuel L. Jackson’s Moody) is killed by mysterious forces. Filmmaker Campbell, working from Richard Wenk’s screenplay, delivers a somewhat erratic yet mostly rewarding actioner that benefits from its strong performances and raft of engaging, exciting fight sequences, as the movie, in terms of the latter, boasts a series of violent set-pieces that essentially (and effectively) compensate for a narrative that rarely feels as streamlined or pared-down as one might’ve preferred (ie the plot is sporadically just a little too intrusive for its own good). It’s clear, too, that The Protégé‘s success is due in no small part to Q’s superb (and convincing) turn as the sympathetic, tough-as-nails protagonists, while Michael Keaton, cast as an enigmatic killer, offers up predictably compelling work that goes a long way towards elevating the proceedings on an impressively ongoing basis. (The actor is, for example, responsible for one of the picture’s most spellbinding interludes, as his character takes on a series of attackers in and around a small Asian restaurant.) And although the film fizzles out slightly in its closing stretch, due primarily to the deliberateness with which Campbell wraps everything up, The Protégé is, generally speaking, a stirring endeavor that makes a strong case for future installments based around Q’s intriguing, commanding protagonist.

*** out of ****