Lionsgate has released the first trailer for the thriller “The Protege” starring Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton and Robert Patrick. Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody (Jackson) and trained in the family business, Anna (Q) is the world’s most skilled contract killer. When Moody is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. She soon becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer (Michael Keaton) whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves even tighter. Helmed by Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale,” “Goldeneye”) from a script by Richard Wenk (“The Equalizer”), Lionsgate will release the film in cinemas on August 20th. https://www.darkhorizons.com/trailer-maggie-q-is-the-protege/ Solid cast and director, might be fun. I've been a big fan of Maggie Q since her Nikita series, which this sort of reminds me of, so looking forward to it....
Recipe for lady action thriller: Add one small cameo with Samuel L. Jackson as mentor/father figure (expanded in trailer) Add one up and coming hot chick Mix in two pinches of spy/assassin generic backstory Stir, add in a teaspoon of revenge motive Garnish with recognizable older actor Bake for 90 minutes Let cool for four weeks at box office. Good returns on low budget. Repeat.
Saw this last night, Maggie Q, Michael Keaton & Sam L. Jackson are solid. Maggie Q fans, like me, will be very happy she looks amazing throughout. Action is well done, a bit more brutal than expected. The main downside is that the script is pretty bad, dialogue is wooden and the story is overly convoluted for no good reason. It's still an enjoyable spy flick but it just could have been so much better...... B-
IMO Maggie Q hasn't noticeably aged much since Nikita. Everybody else, well Hollywood has been using old men in action movies for year, just look at the career tangent that Liam Neeson made...
Maggie Q is 42. (acting for 20 years) Miachel Keaton is 70 (acting for 47 years) Samuel L. Jackson is 72. (acting for 49 years) For this type of action flick, lot of the credit should go to the stunt team for making these actors look good.
