Former war hero Nikki’s peaceful life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child.
Chuck says:
Taking elements from “Taken” as well as “First Blood,” Adrian Grunberg’s “Protector” purports to be born of a noble cause, namely raising awareness concerning sex trafficking. That’s all well and good, but who are we kidding? This serious issue is used as nothing more than a sensational raison d’etre to build this pedestrian actioner around, one that, at every turn, relies on excessive violence and gore rather than smarts and imagination.
After sobering statistics regarding the sex trafficking issue are displayed on screen, we delve into the plight of an absentee mom. In this case, that would be Nikki (Milla Jovovich), a career Special Forces soldier who loves her vocation but rues the fact that it constantly takes her away from her daughter. Reduced to sending birthday wishes to Chloe via Zoom from wherever she’s deployed each year shoulders her with a sense of guilt she can barely contain.
However, when her husband dies and she’s forced to return home, Nikki vows to make up for lost time, something the now teenage Chloe (Isabel Myers) could care less about. Finding more satisfaction in being petulant and entitled as only a teenager can, the 17-year-old defies her mother at every turn. This includes sneaking out one night to go drinking with her friends. Either through extraordinary bad luck or the laziness of screenwriter Bong-Seob Mun, the young woman is kidnapped by members of the Syndicate, a shadowy organization that specializes in trafficking.
Momma bear Nikki kicks into high gear, using her own very special set of skills to rescue her daughter and it’s just as mundane as you’d imagine. Give Jovovich credit; at 50 years of age, she can still convincingly dole out a butt-kicking with the best of them. Whether it’s stabbing, kicking, shooting or, my favorite, ramming a car key into someone’s eye, the actress’ enthusiasm for lethality is commendable.
While I’m sure it wouldn’t have helped the film much, it would have been nice had anyone else in the cast done more than simply phone in a performance. D. B. Sweeney as the police detective assigned to bring in Nikki seems desperate to make a tee time whenever he appears. His line readings are fast and without inflection, dispensed with the urgency of a man who wants to get away from his present location as fast as he can. On the other end of the spectrum is Matthew Modine as Colonel Lavelle, Nikki’s commanding officer, intent on rounding her up before she can inflict more carnage. Relishing the opportunity to play a tough guy, the actor’s stilted, deliberate line readings show us why he’s never been cast in a role like this before. Lacking the necessary gravitas, the actor comes off as if he’s kid trying and failing to play a grown-up role.
I’m not sure if movies like this are made to eventually be taken as a tax write off, as a contractual obligation or on a dare. What I do know is that “Protector” is a waste of time, money and talent. Done much better on numerous occasions, this movie serves no purpose, a by-the-numbers affair as dull as it is lacking in imagination.
1 1/2 Stars
