“Project Power” (American; 2020; sci-fi/action/crime drama; run time 1 hour, 53 minutes; directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, written by Mattson Tomlin; rated R for violence, blood, drug use, language; streaming on Netflix) takes an intriguing concept and dresses it in standard action movie and crime drama clothing (but with some great visual effects), and the results are predictably mixed and frustrating. Because it seems only marginally interested in its own sci-fi premise – taking a pill can give you superhuman powers, an idea rife with all kinds of connections to American society when you consider the pills have been developed by the government and are being tested on humans, largely those on the low end of the socioeconomic scale – it falls back on standard crime drama cliches and nearly earns B movie status. The government is corrupt. The cops are corrupt. The villains are inept. And, because the bad guys have somebody’s daughter, this time it’s personal. It’s always personal.

In modern day New Orleans, reports (we hear them as media broadcasts, another action movie cliché) are coming in of people performing superhuman feats, like running 35 mph and passing cars on the streets. Turns out low-level dealers are pushing a pill that gives you such abilities as being a human torch or camouflaging yourself against any backdrop. Like with any drug, the pills come with all sorts of side effects, and users start abusing them. They also will use their powers for evil, not good. High school student Robin (newcomer Dominque Fishback, who is excellent) is one of the dealers, forced into a life of crime (apparently) because she has a sick mother and is Black girl in a society oppressing her. One of her customers is police officer Frank Shaver (a miscast Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is taking the pills to “level the playing field.” Robin soon crosses paths with Art (a quite serious Jamie Foxx), a military vet who is trying to find the source of the “power” pills. He knows the government is involved, and he knows the heavies have his daughter (Kyanna Simone Simpson as Tracy). Can Art save her? Can he put an end to the government’s attempts to create superheroes and make a ton of money in the process?

“Project Power” had the power of money behind it (a reported budget of $85 million, thanks to the folks at Netflix), and it shows. The visuals are at times stunning, especially in the climactic moment. Everything about the movie feels big (I saw it on my phone; it likely would have been a better experience in a theater), including the sound design and relentless synth-heavy score. The movie is noisy visually and sonically, to the point of seeming like a cover-up for the standard storytelling. The final scene, on a ship, goes on for what seems like days. And if you have watched an action movie, any action movie, you know how it’s going to turn out.

Moviemaking choices like that are unfortunate because, given the concept, better options were available. The film gives lip-service to heavier themes – the plight of Blacks, the idea that the government flooded certain low-income neighborhoods with drugs to destroy them, the idea that true power resides within all of us – but doesn’t let them intrude much on a noisy and melodramatic TV-level crime story with dashes of sci-fi and movie-level visuals. My score: 58 out of 100.