Taraji P. Henson can kick some ass and Proud Mary (which she executive produced) was the shoot-em-up movie that could have solidified that. Though, with more flaws than flare, Henson and director Babak Najafi (London Has Fallen) should have gone a different route. The action is arid and the saucy attitude needing to be attached to Proud Mary is gunned down instantly.
Henson plays Mary, a hired gun looking for redemption while becoming a guardian angel to Donny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), a kid who became an orphan thanks to her pulling the trigger on his father. Obviously, Donny doesn’t know at first, and doesn’t have a clue as to why she’s protecting him. Mary won’t provide too many answers, but she does her best to be a mother to him. All of it comes off fake as hell.
Tell me if you have heard this one before. Mary is a hit woman with a guilty conscience and Donny is her way out. As we all know, in her world, you can’t just walk away. She is looking to get out of the business of bloodshed and start a new life somewhere far away from Boston. She was raised by and works for Benny (a dispirited Danny Glover), a crime kingpin who has taught her how to make a living off of killing. Naturally, she would fall in love with his son Tom (Billy Brown) and, shockingly, things just didn’t pan out between them. What a pity.
Proud Mary is no Foxy Brown, and sure as hell no Jackie Brown. Henson is a tremendous talent, and there’s no better actress to pick up where Pam Grier left off. But this tribute to blaxploitation is cheaply cliched and having Henson simply shoot her way out will not do.
Proud Mary can only be proud of putting a bullet right through the head of enthusiasm and emotional connection.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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