Kids, this here is what we used to call “straight to DVD.”
“Protector” is an action film very much in the vein of “Taken,” as it centers on the protagonist’s daughter being abducted. Milla Jovovich stars as Nikki in the film, a woman who for years served in the United States Army with multiple combat tours during America’s wars in the Middle East.
She ends her military career, though, when her husband passes away, so she can be at home with her daughter, Chloe (Isabel Myers). Because she was gone for years, their relationship is strained. But when Chloe is abducted by traffickers, Nikki goes in to protective mom mode, and leans on her special forces training.
The last film to be released under the Magenta Light Studios banner was 2025’s “Bride Hard,” which unfortunately made my Worst of the Year list. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see its latest flick “Protector” end up on the 2026 version. The movie has a premise that is already rather played out and doesn’t have anything spicy to add to the mix.
The concept of a warrior trying to move on from their bloody past but being dragged back in because of an abduction or quest for revenge has been around for some time. Of course, a great example is “Taken,” and Liam Neeson has starred in a few others. So has Denzel Washington with “The Equalizer” and some of Jason Statham’s recent work.
It’s a sub-genre that really just comes down to execution. Sadly, it’s not particularly good here. Perhaps the most immediately worrying example is how in the film’s first act, it skips over a big chunk of time. In a completely unnecessary narration, which switches back and forth from past tense to present tense regularly by the way, Nikki explains how important the first 72 hours are in an abduction.
The movie makes time such a big point to where it actually shows a running countdown between scenes in giant red numbers. But then the movie skips from 71 hours to like, 45. It makes a viewer feel cheated out of some extra fight scenes. Now, the movie later reveals some details as to why this was done, but even then, it still felt unnecessary to skip over key scenes without ever showing what happened.
From there, the film goes through some expected motions. The cops start honing in on the deaths, the big bad wants to stop Nikki from tearing down their illegal enterprise, and the hero fights her way through goons as the situation gets more dire. That’s all fine, and really kind of expected for this type of flick.
The problem is the script for this movie is really rough. It was penned by Bong-Seob Mun, who has never written a script before, and it shows. Again, this is simple premise, so there needs to be some things in the writing, and direction for that matter, to punch it up. The opposite happens here. This film features some extremely generic, amateurish dialogue and plotting.
Then, after an hour and a half of that, either Mun or director Adrian Grünberg, decided to take a big swing for the fences with an absurd twist that really doesn’t work in the movie’s favor. The twist ends up taking away from the hero’s journey, which is usually the selling point of these pictures, and it doesn’t work thematically in what the movie is putting forward in its subtext, either.
The only real highlight, which I suppose is a good thing, is a solid amount of intense action. Grünberg and his crew take advantage of the film’s R rating with plenty of thrilling, bloody action sequences. The sound design in many of the scenes is good, too, with the gun shots and body blows all enhancing the set pieces.
Jovovich deserves some credit for being so committed to this role, too. She gives it all she’s got, pushing hard with raw emotion and showing her character’s intense dedication and motivation. The material doesn’t help her much, though.
The supporting cast isn’t great either, D.B. Sweeney is forgettable as a generic police captain, while Matthew Modine is literally ripping off Richard Crenna’s Col. Sam Trautman of “First Blood,” as he portrays this film’s Col. Joseph Lavelle, beret and all. I mean, there’s even a “body bags” line. I get Grünberg also directed the last “Rambo” movie, but give me a break.
With all that said, “Protector” could have maybe been given a pass from a really low rating, considering Jovovich is fine and some of the action is actually alright. However, every time the film takes two steps forward, it’s one step back because of the direction and writing. Then, the final reveal knocks it down entirely. 1.5 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 