The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

La Femme Anna.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 18, 2021

Fans of The Protégé star Maggie Q who may for whatever reason start watching this film without knowing much about it in advance and who join somewhat past the opening credits might be forgiven if they assume they are simply seeing some kind of feature film adaptation of Q's long running television series, Nikita, since there are more than a few similar elements at play. Nikita was of course (in a kind of reverse way) an adaptation itself, this time for the small screen, of Luc Besson's well regarded La Femme Nikita, a film which documented the adventures of a highly trained female assassin. Well, her name might be Anna Dutton this time around, but the character essayed by Q in this enterprise is for all intents and purposes "just another" Nikita, though The Protégé struggles rather valiantly at times to provide a bit of differing color and distance between the two properties, one assumes because the underlying similarities between them are so obvious. The Protégé begins in 1991 in Vietnam, where some kind of operative named Moody Dutton (Samuel L. Jackson) comes upon a scene of carnage with a bunch of slaughtered men, only to find a young girl with the gun that committed the mayhem hiding in a locker. Dutton takes the girl under his wing (hence her surname), and the film segues forward thirty years to find the two working together as hired assassins. Well, the family that slays together, stays together, as any armchair therapist may tell you.

Screenwriter Richard Wenk is on hand in several supplements included on this release mentioning how his aim was not just to provide a typical adrenaline rush of action set pieces, but to offer a story that has a few surprises up its well tailored sleeve. He may frankly have been more successful in the first category than the second, since an undeniable strength of The Protégé is its fight or other action scenes, while the narrative is pretty rote, despite fitful attempts at ostensible "twists". The Protégé has undeniable energy and it's never less than briskly entertaining, but if Wenk was aiming for innovation in his plotting, some may feel he, unlike Anna, didn't hit the bullseye all of the time.

The father-daughter relationship between Moody and Anna is documented early on, and of course those with "Syd Field prognosticator" powers will almost automatically be asking themselves, "Well, what's going to happen to him?", and of course, suffice it to say Anna is soon enough on a mission of vengeance, though those who have taken any advanced classes in screenplay prophesying may see a later reveal coming well in advance of its actual arrival. In the meantime, she's met cute with a guy named Rembrandt (Michael Keaton) who, in another predictable plot development, turns out to also be a hired hitman. This introduces a kind of Mr. & Mrs. Smith element which is mined for both its inherent hand to hand battle opportunities as well as for some underlying sexual tension.

The basic through line here is not going to surprise most viewers at any point, but there are some interesting angles that Wenk has added, aided and abetted by some fun directorial flourishes by Martin Campbell. Some of the sidebars to the actual story end up giving it some of its most distinctive if trivial moments, as in the rather odd plot point of Anna running a rare book shop as her "cover" (no book pun intended). There are some "cheats" that are employed, with brief allusions to events that end up being different in "reality" than they're initially probably deceptively presented to be, and a number of flashbacks documenting Anna's troubled childhood also enter the fray. Anna is an interesting heroine in that she is at least temporarily "vincible", though anyone who thinks she's not going to ultimately triumph is assuming The Protégé has ambitions far beyond its admittedly very enjoyable genre aims.

The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 Blu-ray.

The Protégé is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists Arri Alexa Minis as having been utilized, but does not specify the resolution of the finished DI. This 4K version's specs have been preset to native 4K, which frankly doesn't surprise me, but that said, I personally have not been able to find any authoritative information online about the resolution of the DI. The clear improvement in fine detail levels I experienced in watching this 4K UHD version also tends to make me think that it's a native 4K source, and that improvement, combined with some almost breathtaking new luster in the highlights of the palette courtesy of HDR and/or Dolby Vision, make this version a very enjoyable viewing experience. This interview with color grader Vanessa Taylor that I found online is very interesting, and other videophiles may also enjoy reading it since one of the more salient things about that article is that it brings attention to grading, something that this version's HDR really makes the most of. Rather interestingly in that regard, I'd simply recommend anyone wanting a fascinating example of a seemingly "mundane" use of grading techniques to look at the actual filming conditions of the scene between Anna and Moody where she give him the guitar, which are offered in the making of featurette included on this disc and which reveal a rather brightly lit and drab looking environment, with the actual finished version in the film, where things have a buttery warmth and deeply suffused burnished tones that make everything feel "homey". The range of browns and yellows in this scene on the 4K UHD version also really benefit from HDR. From the very first shot of puddles of rainwater filled with really evocative tones from reflected lights, this 4K UHD version has a much broader range of tones, and throughout the presentation there are some very appealing teals, greens, and purples, which for some may recall similar uses in a film which gets a nod on the front cover of this release, John Wick 4K. Fine detail is noticeably improved across all sorts of textures, including everything from kind of vellum documents Anna looks at to wrappings on cigars. Even the crags in Michael Keaton's face achieve a new delineation in this version. There are still some very minor deficits in shadow definition which haven't been completely eliminated in this version, despite some overall improvement in that arena, but I was generally very impressed with this 4K UHD iteration of the film.

The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From the opening moments of this film, which offer a rainy night in Vietnam, The Protégé's Dolby Atmos track establishes both appealing width and at least moments of noticeable verticality. The track has the expected gamut of smacks, whacks, gunfire and explosions, but there's a glut of other ambient environmental effects that are on full display throughout the presentation, and even relatively quiet scenes can have smart directionality and good discrete channelization that helps to establish spatial relationships. There aren't a ton of source cues utilized (at least within the context of how some of these action oriented films do things), but the ones that are used, as well as Rupert Parkes' score, also offer good engagement of the surround channels. LFE is quite forceful on several occasions, and dynamic range is appealingly wide. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Forced English subtitles for some foreign language moments are provided, and optional English and Spanish subtitles for the entire film are also available.

The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lionsgate has kindly included the same supplements on both the 4K UHD disc and the 1080 disc:

• Audio Commentary with Director Martin Campbell


• Scars of the Past: Making The Protégé (HD; 37:10) is an above average featurette that offers several good interviews with the principal cast and crew. There's a lot of candid footage in this piece that fans will enjoy.


• Anna vs. Rembrandt (HD; 7:59) looks at the relationship between the characters in general and their smack down fight leading to a bit of a different kind of intimate interaction in particular.


• Deleted Scene (HD; 1:48)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:33)

This release also includes a 1080 copy, a digital copy, and packaging features a slipcover.

The Protégé 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite Richard Wenk's assertions to the contrary, there's probably not much to this story that is going to end up surprising anyone, down to and including some of the supposed "twists" the film offers. But, frankly, that may not matter one little whit, since the cast is game and engaging, and Martin Campbell keeps things moving quickly enough that there's always another bone crunching action sequence in store. Technical merits are solid and in my estimation the 4K UHD presentation is a clear improvement on the already excellent 1080 presentation. The supplementary package is also enjoyable. Recommended.