Protector (2026)    Magenta Light/Action    RT: 91 minutes    Rated R (strong/bloody violence and language)    Director: Adrian Grunberg    Screenplay: Bong-Seob Mun    Music: Don Cherel    Cinematography: Vern Nobles Jr.    Release date: March 2, 2026 (US)    Cast: Milla Jovovich, Matthew Modine, Isabel Myers, D.B. Sweeney, Michael Stahl-David, Lydia Hull, Chase E. Kim, Shane Williams, Don Harvey, Texas Battle, Manny Montana, Brooklyn Sudano, Gabriel Sloyer, Nick Genta, Yoko Hamamura, Arica Himmel.

Rating: ** ½

 Milla Jovovich took on hordes of zombies in six Resident Evil movies so a gang of sex traffickers shouldn’t be too much of a problem. She sure makes it look easy in Protector, an actioner best described as Taken meets First Blood. Directed by Adrian Grunberg (Rambo: Last Blood), it’s an entertaining but low-energy yarn that completely unravels with a last-minute revelation that will surely have even the most die-hard action fans saying “WTF?!” out loud.

 Milla plays Nikki Halstead, a former Special Forces soldier who jumps back into action after her teenage daughter Chloe (Myers, Mixed-ish) is taken by a human trafficking ring (aka “The Syndicate”). She informs us via voiceover that kidnappings like this must be solved in the first 72 hours after which the likelihood of finding the victim alive is nil. Nikki shoots, stabs and pummels her way through hordes of sleazy bad guys to find her only child and bring her back home. Predictably, they’re no match for this bad ass lady with a particular set of skills.

 The police, led by one Captain Michaels (Sweeney, No Man’s Land), would rather she stand down and let them handle it. They try their hardest to contain her only to fall short each and every time. She takes down a SWAT team like she’s swatting a fly. And they can’t say they weren’t warned. While coordinating with the SWAT team, Michaels is interrupted by an authoritative voice saying, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” It’s Colonel Lavelle (Modine, Full Metal Jacket), Nikki’s former CO. He follows up this warning with “You have no idea of what you’re dealing with or what she’s capable of.” and ends with “Now pull your men back or order six body bags.” Funny, he doesn’t look like Richard Crenna.

 It looks to me like Grunberg tries to add gravitas to Protector by trying to drive home a message about the prevalence of sex trafficking in the US. He refers to it as a “second, unseen war” in opening titles that play over footage of American soldiers fighting in Iraq. He goes on to tell us that over 17,000 women and children are forced in sex slavery each year. He then sets the tone for the rocky mother-daughter relationship resulting from Nikki being away from home for long stretches of time (which include a few birthdays). It almost feels like the director wants to say something about these two important issues- i.e. human trafficking and the effects of war on families- before remembering he’s supposed to making a popcorn action movie.

 Earlier I referred to Protector as “low-energy”. Permit me to elaborate. It’s not that it’s slow-moving although it hardly moves at what I would call a rapid clip. It’s not for lack of action either. There’s plenty of it. So what’s the problem? It’s lazy more than anything else. It doesn’t even care enough to tell us the whole story. It skips through a significant portion of it, taking us from Nikki’s first encounter with the gang to being held captive by a sadistic creep who relates everything that we didn’t get to see in the time skipped over.

 The screenplay by first-timer Bong-Seob Mun, in addition to being half-cooked, is a pastiche of clichés and ideas from other action movies. It’s one of those Identikit deals that offer (almost) nothing in the way of any real surprises. For example, you’ll know right away which one of the cops on the case is dirty. To be fair, there is one surprise plot twist. You won’t see it coming because it would never cross the mind of any rational person. It’s absolutely ludicrous. If nothing else, Protector serves as concrete proof that a movie can be undone by the last five minutes.

 Now let’s talk about the film’s artistic merits, a term I use in the loosest sense. There’s a dark pallor hanging over the whole thing. It gives the film a dreary, depressing look. It’s like Grunberg filmed it only on overcast days. Lighting, particularly during the action scenes, is a problem as well. Too often, it’s too dark to see clearly what’s going on. Not a good look for viewers who want to see what the heroine is doing to the creeps who took her kid.

 Protector is deeply flawed and derivative as hell. The acting isn’t even a consideration. Everybody, even Milla, pretty much just goes through the motions without feeling any of it. I don’t expect Oscar-level performances in what’s essentially a B-movie, but shouldn’t the actors at least feign some interest in what they’re doing? It’s sloppily directed and tonally uneven. It’s poorly written too. We don’t even get a decent villain, just some guy called “The Chairman” (Sloyer) and he’s only in a few scenes, not long enough to give him a personality. It really isn’t a good movie.

 Now here’s the funny thing. I didn’t hate Protector. It’s not unwatchable. Quite the opposite, I got a kick out of it. It serves up a decent amount of action, but what kept my attention was how much it copied other movies. I laughed at the scene where Modine’s character explains to the cop who he’s dealing with. It’s right out of First Blood. I love s*** like that! Yeah, Protector is a bad movie, but not in a way that makes it not worth watching if that makes any sense.