The Wasteland Reviewer

Protector (2026) Written Review

Are you ready for the next Taken inspired film to be hitting theaters? Taken did not just change Liam Neeson’s career for years…it changed action movies for the last two decades. The influx of middle-aged, over-the-hill, or parent-led action/thrillers jumped up infinitely since Neeson’s film became a massive hit. Protector is the next in the long line of films like this that will be hitting the big screen. This vehicle is driven by genre film star Milla Jovovich whose career has mostly focused on action/thrillers directed by her husband Paul W.S. Anderson. This time, she is a war hero whose daughter is taken, and she must go on the hunt! 

Does Protector offer up an engaging twist on this tired story? Well…that is an interesting question. Protector feels like a hodgepodge of other films as it draws upon films like Taken and First Blood. There are some other influences…but those are a bit sensitive (and will be navigated later). The film leans on narration to do a lot of set up which does not engage as well as they probably would have liked. The film does not waste time getting the daughter in the hands of bad people and pushing Jovovich’s Nikki into action. The plot is quite standard with Nikki’s slowly climbing the ladder of this nefarious trafficking organization. The law enforcement characters in this film are so poorly written and bluntly antagonistic that your eyes will be rolling anytime they pop up on screen. The mid-film introduction of Matthew Modine’s Colonel Josephy Lavelle as a Colonel Trautman type from First Blood feels so forced and lazy. Then he just dumps clunky expositional dialogue. Then there is the final stretch of the film. There is a twist in the film that will certainly be divisive. Bold? Sure. Undermine the whole emotional foundation of the film for shock value? Even truer. 

Does the direction do the film any favors? You can tell this is not a film with a large budget and that is obvious throughout. But there is one large boast that director Adrian Grunberg can make. This film has good action. Save a horrifically bad fight involving Modine, the action is quite engrossing and thrilling. Not overly edited and enough of it is done in-camera, you can enjoy this experience solely from an action standpoint. Thrilling for sure, the action sequences will grab your attention enough that you might decide the 92-minute commitment is well worth it. Pacing-wise, the film does propel forward quite well (even if some of the side elements do not engage well). 

How does the cast do in selling this dark, twisted crime story? Jovovich has some strength here. Leaning into her own existence as a mother, you can feel how passionate and authentic she feels in the moments when she is a worried and scared mother. Jovovich sells the physicality and intensity in her performance quite well too. Her line readings are still a bit too flat (which makes the narration less effective) but she does not talk a ton throughout the film. Modine is solid here even if he is saddled with nothing but expositional dialogue. D. B. Sweeney is the police captain chasing down Nikki and his performance is downright frustrating and annoying (which probably says a lot more about the script than Sweeney’s actual performance). Most of the other performers are serviceable or forgettable but this film is almost entirely a vehicle for Jovovich so that is not a deal breaker. 

Does Protector offer up an engaging twist on the Taken formula? It did…until it didn’t. Without the final 5-10 minutes, this is a brisk crime thriller with some truly effective and engaging action set pieces. But the way the film pulls the rug out makes it feel so clunky and unenthusiastic. Jovovich found a solid vehicle for herself. Protector is for those looking for a shocking experience and won’t be turned off by the lack of logic.