PROJECT X. A story about 3 teenagers that want to throw a party so that they can get more popular in school. We’ve seen it before in films like SUPERBAD. But we have never seen it on this scale.
I don’t think this film was marketed right. The title gave me the impression that this might have been a scientific experiment gone wrong (that was before I watched a couple of trailers). And I don’t think people really understood what it was about, except it was a crazy party. It was, but the movie was a little more than that.
Thomas (Thomas Mann) is a bit of a loser. At least that’s what the people at school (and home) think. On the bright side, his birthday is coming up. Thomas’ parents are going away for the weekend and his friends, Costa (Oliver Cooper) and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown), want to throw him a party. Thomas wants to have a small party with just 25 people, 50 at most. But Costa, being the wanna-be party animal that he is, over does it on the invitations and ends up mass marketing the whole thing. He hopes that this will improve their social ranking in school, and get some chicks in the process. JB is the loyal friend that’s down with anything sounds fun. Mind you, all this is being recorded for some reason by a mysterious character only known as Dax (Dax Flame).
Things don’t look like they are gonna pop off, but people start showing up and Thomas, Costa and JB’s dream party begins to see some action. Thomas tries to control things at his parents house, but things quickly escalate, until the whole neighborhood is bursting with drunk teens, topless girls and loud music. Thomas’ dad told him not to let anything happen to his car, but you know how that goes. Trailer…
PROJECT X was crazy. As far as a party movie, it delivered everything that advertising said it would. Teenage chaos and mayhem on a grand scale. I’m sure a lot of young people will want to see a party like that before they get old (in their minds- 25). If you are one of these young people that I’m talking about, then you are probably going to like this film. But don’t look for everything to turn out alright for our heroes. The lesson here is ‘the more you play, the more you pay.’
Thomas and Costa before things go bad
(SPOILERS) Unlike SUPERBAD, where things totally work out in the end for the fellas, PROJECT X is at its heart a cautionary tale. Nobody died or anything, and these three guys did get what they set out to get, fame and females, but at what price? Parents bankrupt, homes burned down, college down the toilet, criminal records. But hey, Thomas got the respect of the school, so it’s all good. The interesting thing that I found was that Thomes, on several occasions, tried to turn himself around and stop the crazyness. But the cheers of his peers at those moments filled him with a ‘power to party’ spirit that quelled any inhibitions he had. This was a great example of how megalomania develops in even the best of us.
Kirby getting checked by 12 year old bodyguards Tyler and Everett
Story wise, the movie was good, but not great. It hit all the typical beats you would expect from a party movie – the hero (Thomas) is a loser… he’s swooning for the hot chick in school… his longtime friend, who happens to be a hot girl too, begins to like him ‘in that way’. Costa is the fast-talking jerk, and JB the typical chubby kid that doesn’t quite fit in, but make the audience laugh with his weirdness. All of that was there, but it didn’t fit together nicely like other movies of this calabar. There wasn’t enough time for us film goers to empathize with these guys. Sure things were getting crazy, but I almost didn’t feel sorry for them (well maybe a little when the flamethrower guy and the riot squad showed up). I felt more sorry for the gnome and the dog. I was just wondering how they were going to get out of this mess. But that’s the thing, they didn’t really get out of it. No ‘hale the conquering Hero’ feeling for me except for the next day school ovation and a note of respect from the dad, which, from my old grumpy fatherly perspective was ABSURD. If I were his dad, I would have whooped his behind from here to the tuesday after next tuesday.
You have to remember that Geek Soul Brother is old. So I’m looking at this through very different eyes then you young folk. Still, I think you teens and young twenties will enjoy this flick, if only for the ridiculousness of it all. It will probably be a classic like all the other raunchy teen comedies. Geek Soul Brother gives PROJECT X 3 out of 5 Cosmic Afros.
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