By John Corrado

★★ (out of 4)

Mary (Taraji P. Henson) is a contract killer who works for a Boston crime family led by the powerful patriarch Benny (Danny Glover).  But her life takes an unexpected turn when she takes in Danny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), a boy who is working for a rival crime syndicate, and was left orphaned after she carried out a hit on his father.

Directed by Babak Najafi, Proud Mary styles itself as a throwback to the blaxploitation movies of the 1970s, and it really had potential as a cheesy action flick, especially with Taraji P. Henson in the lead.  But the film gets bogged down by being more of a domestic drama, and for the most part it’s actually somewhat boring.  It also isn’t helped by the bland camerawork and stilted dialogue.

There are still some fun moments here and there, like a climactic shootout set to the Tina Turner song that gives the film its title, but overall Proud Mary is a fairly forgettable and disappointing film.  I can only hope that Taraji P. Henson is given a similarly kickass role in a stronger movie sometime in the future, because she’s a star who deserves better.

The Blu-ray also includes the featurettes Mary’s World, The Beginning of the End and If Looks Could Kill.

Proud Mary is a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release.  It’s 89 minutes and rated 14A.