Q has a knack for enjoying alluring assassins (the collection model of “Nikita” being a chief instance), so she’s not straying removed from her consolation zone as Anna, introduced up underneath the tutelage of Moody (Jackson), who rescued her as a baby and primarily raised her in his deadly killer-for-hire picture.
After a mission that establishes simply how good they’re at their chosen occupation, an assault leaves Moody out of the image, and Anna hellbent on exacting revenge, by no means thoughts what number of our bodies pile as much as get there.
Particularly, Anna’s relentless pursuit places her at odds with one other grasp of their commerce, the world-weary Rembrandt (Keaton), who appears extra enthusiastic about flirting along with her than killing her (they bond over the sound of handguns), though their periodic conferences give him alternatives to try to do each.
“Belief me, you do not need to know me after I’m testy,” Anna tells him, sounding a bit just like the Hulk (for anybody who remembers the TV present), regardless of his understated warning that if she needs to remain alive, it will be “unwise” to proceed alongside her current course.
These modest exchanges apart, the accent for films like “The Protégé” inevitably boils all the way down to the motion sequences, and so they’re fast-paced, brutal and crisply executed, with the very best coming after Anna has been subjected to waterboarding, placing her in an understandably foul temper.
“The Protégé” probably will not occupy theaters for lengthy, but it surely’s the form of unassuming effort that might get pleasure from a fairly lengthy shelf life. Simply take into account that with this type of film, harboring something greater than modest expectations could be, properly, unwise.
“The Protégé” premieres in US theaters on Aug. 20. It is rated R.
