You've Already Seen PROTECTOR

PROTECTOR (Blu-ray)

2025 / 92 min

Magenta Light

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

This is one of those cookie cutter action films where the cover and tagline tell you almost everything you need to know…another female variation of Taken, this time with Milla Jovovich assuming the ass-kicking duties. Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that. In the right hands, rip-offs can be fun if you keep your expectations in-check.

But Protector isn’t content to simply rip-off Taken. At one point, it also decides to become another Rambo movie (more specifically, First Blood). Jovovich plays Nikki Halstead, an ex-super soldier whose daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers known as The Syndicate (of course they are). Using her own special set of skills, Nikki becomes a one-woman wrecking crew as she hunts down and slaughters her way up the food chain, while her former CO, Colonel Lavelle (Matthew Modine), is on-hand to continuously remind befuddled cops how lethal she is. 

"Hi, Milla."

There isn’t anything wrong with that either. Nobody watches this stuff expecting enlightenment. But what sinks Protector is the execution. It is atrociously written, starting with Jovovich’s needless voice-over narration, where she pontificates life, death and the particulars of being trained killer with such solemnity that it becomes unintentionally humorous. All the characters are composites of those you’ve undoubtedly seen in better movies, the worst example being a police captain played by D.B. Sweeney, who’s so stupidly belligerent that he makes Brian Dennehy’s similar character in First Blood look like Frank Serpico.

As for Nikki’s rampage, some of it is enjoyable and Jovovich has always been a solid physical performer. That being said, I’m at a total loss why the film totally skips over her killing spree which kicks things off. Instead, one bad guy simply tells his boss that she blew up a whorehouse and killed five people before the narrative charges forward. Then there’s that plot twist at the end, clumsily tacked-on without any foreshadowing. Is it intended to shock the audience or leave the door open for a sequel? Either way, it’s a narratively pointless suckerpunch.

Jovovich’s obvious dedication to her role is admirable, but unfortunately, it’s in service of a depressingly derivative, disjointed film. Protector is devoid of engaging characters, suspense or anything resembling an original idea (not even the stupid twist ending).