The Protégé

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This article is about the 2021 U.S. film. For other uses, see Protégé (disambiguation).

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Not to be confused with Protégé (film).
The Protégé
"Theatrical release poster": A diagonal line features the faces of two men. In the middle of the poster itself is a woman, holding a gun. In front of her are the words "The Protégé" and the tagline "Made for vengeance".
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Martin Campbell
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Written by Richard Wenk
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Rupert Parkes
Cinematography David Tattersall
Edited by Angela M. Catanzaro
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release dates
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  • August 20, 2021 (2021-08-20)
Running time
 109 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $8.6 million[1][2]

The Protégé is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Richard Wenk, and starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson. The supporting cast features Patrick Malahide, David Rintoul, Ori Pfeffer, Ray Fearon, Caroline Loncq, and Robert Patrick. The film is about Anna, who was rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, and is now the world's most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody is brutally killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows. The film was released on August 20, 2021 by Lionsgate. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $8 million at the box office.

Plot

Anna is an assassin raised by Moody after he discovered her as a child in 1991 in the aftermath of a massacre in Da Nang, where she killed four men who had kidnapped her. For years, they traversed the globe and completed high-profile contracts—settling in England where she runs a rare-book store and he lives in a manor house.[3]

In the present day, Anna and Moody kill a Romanian mafia boss by taking his son hostage and using him as bait. Anna and Moody celebrate his 70th birthday, where he gives her insight into a person he is trying to find information on, Lucas Hayes. A man named Rembrandt stops by the bookstore Anna owns as a cover. He acts like he is looking for a rare book, and gives Anna his number. Anna investigates Lucas Hayes for Moody and reaches out to several contacts to help her. A few days later, Moody and anyone Anna contacted to gain information on Lucas Hayes are all killed. Anna seeks vengeance after finding Moody and her contacts murdered and her bookstore destroyed in a drive-by shooting. She believes that an assassination target from Moody's past in Vietnam, Edward Hayes, is connected to Lucas Hayes and Moody's death. She travels to Vietnam to investigate further. While there she learns Lucas is Edward Hayes' son. Lucas is severely physically disabled, but well cared for in a facility that has a wealthy benefactor who provides the money necessary for his care. Anna also learns of Vohl, Hayes' partner who took over the company after Hayes' death. She sets a meeting with Vohl, but Vohl's lawyer Duquet kills him to prevent Vohl from divulging any information to Anna. Anna attacks Duquet, but is captured after a chase. Duquet tortures her for information, asking why she is after Edward's son and who hired her.

Rembrandt visits Anna in the cell and reveals that he, like Duquet, works for the same person, but says that his methods are apart from them and he was not involved with the attack on Moody or the shooting at the bookstore. After Rembrandt leaves, the gang goes to her cell and tries to hang her, but she attacks them and escapes. Rembrandt blames Duquet and his harsh methods for her escape.

Anna tries to chase down several leads, including visiting Lucas at the facility he stays at, but Rembrandt always manages to stay one step ahead of her. She agrees to meet him for dinner, after which he is attacked by local thugs hired by Duquet. He survives and leaves to find Duquet, whom Anna has already killed. Rembrandt arrives at Duquet's apartment and sees that Duquet was hanged. Anna ambushes Rembrandt and the pair engage in an extended fight before sleeping together. While walking in the street the next day, Anna is shot by one of Duquet's men but is rescued by Moody. Moody reveals to her that he faked his death by disguising his attempted killer as himself by shooting his attacker in the face so that he could not be identified.

Edward Hayes is revealed to be alive. He plans to hold a banquet and takes extreme precautions to prevent any intrusion. Anna disguises herself as a waitress, but is discovered by Rembrandt. Anna attempts to shoot him, but is stopped by Rembrandt and the missed shots cause panic in the banquet ballroom. Anna escapes during the ensuing chaos, but Rembrandt follows her. Hayes is moved to his safe room, but Moody had infiltrated it before the disturbance. Hayes reveals that he faked his death in order to protect his son from people that would do him harm by attacking his family. Moody is not persuaded because of all the misdeeds that Hayes has participated in over the decades since he faked his death. Moody reveals to Hayes that he was only looking for Lucas to apologize to him for killing his father, and that Hayes could have continued living in the shadows if he hadn't tried to kill Moody. During this exchange, Anna is pursued by Rembrandt, but escapes the banquet after Moody detonates a bomb in the bunker, killing both himself and Hayes.

In a flashback, Anna witnesses her mother beheaded, and her father and sisters shot by a local gang. Anna is captured and taken by the gang to their base, the location shown at the beginning of the film. The gang's leader assembles one of two disassembled pistols lying on a table while young Anna watches, memorizing the steps. The mob leader briefly leaves the room. When he returns, he discovers that Anna has assembled the second pistol and is pointing it at him. She shoots and kills him. When other mob members come running after hearing the shots, Anna kills them as well.

The film returns to Rembrandt, who arrives where Anna is remembering her past, a discussion ensues but ultimately they aim their guns at each other. The view switches to outside, one shot is heard; a shadow can be seen moving on the first floor and moments later Anna can be seen leaving through a ground floor exit.

Cast

Production

In October 2017, it was announced that Gong Li had joined the cast of the film, then titled Ana, with Martin Campbell directing from a screenplay by Richard Wenk.[6] In November 2019, it was announced Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson and Maggie Q had joined the cast of the film.[7]

Principal photography began in January 2020 under the title The Asset.[8] Filming took place in Bucharest, London and Da Nang.[7]

Release

The film was released in theatres on August 20, 2021, by Lionsgate.[9][10] It was previously scheduled to be released on April 23, 2021.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Protégé was released alongside Reminiscence, The Night House, and PAW Patrol: The Movie as well as the limited release of Flag Day and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,577 theaters in its opening weekend.[11] The film made $1.1 million on its first day, and went on to debut to just $2.9 million, finishing seventh at the box office.[12] The film fell 44% in its second weekend to $1.6 million.[13]

Critical response

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 61% based on 110 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Maggie Q's still waiting for the action movie that really deserves her -- but until then, The Protégé hits just hard enough to satisfy."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 76% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 50% saying they would definitely recommend it.[12]

References

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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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