This feels like propaganda specifically targeted for the MAGA crowd. I didn't know much about it going in, or I wouldn't have wasted my time. It's a conservative fantasy of what human trafficking looks like. I don't know why white evangelical Christians are so obsessed with this narrative that white girls are getting kidnapped off the streets. It's not happening. Yes, human trafficking is a problem, but not for affluent, white, American women. Sorry to burst your bubble. But feel free to enjoy the newest human trafficking porn. It wasn't for me.

Almost everything about this aside from the action is bad. The action is good to great, but most importantly, this is not how sex trafficking works. I generally don’t care about realism in movies as longs as the internal logic is sound, but this topic is serious and is almost always depicted incorrectly, and it has become a political (fascist) cudgel.

"Physically, she was _recoveried_. But mentally?" - Movie so bad it made Matthew Modine forget how to speak English - Every time they said "whorehouse" it took me out - Does she think that adding diet coke to coffee gives it more caffeine or something?? Like she clearly had a full pot of coffee sitting right there... she could've just drank more coffee 😭

This felt like a very low budget, female take on the movie ‘Taken’. That’s not a bad thing at all as I love that movie. This is essentially the female version and a bit more violent. The issue here is that the script is very inconsistent and not focused in on the details enough. Some of the dialogue and line delivery was really bad. The editing was a bit discombobulated. It’s shot and feels a lot like a DTV style movie. All of this doesn’t isn’t to say that the movie didn’t deliver on some great action scenes and violence. It’s honestly a pretty fun time, it’s just very generic. Milla Jovovich absolutely carries this movie on her shoulders. Plus that final act was really badass. All in all this was a pretty decent flick. Side note: That twist was totally unnecessary and almost ruined that movie for me. I’m deducting a half star because of that. * Double Feature at AMC Crestwood 18

Taken - Female Version 😂 This was a decent action movie, if you can get past the heavy-handed “girl boss” nonsense holding it together. The entire plot kicks off because the main character’s daughter makes a truly inspired decision to go off with a random guy she just met at a nightclub and, shockingly, gets kidnapped. Incredible setup. No notes. From there, the movie expects you to treat everything like high-stakes drama, but it is hard to stay invested when the whole situation exists purely because someone had to act that unbelievably stupid in the first place. It feels less like an organic story and more like a checklist of excuses to get to the next action scene. To be fair, the action itself is solid enough, which is probably the only reason this remains watchable. But the foundation is so flimsy that every serious moment lands with a dull thud instead of any real impact. Basically, Protector had potential. Milla Jovovich does her part and brings some genuinely strong action sequences. The problem is the movie takes the laziest possible route to get things started and never really earns its way back from that. The grand reveal at the end is even worse.