‘John Wick’ Meets ‘Taken’ in “Ridiculous” Action Movie Slaying Streaming Competition
It might seem strange that, despite movies such as The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez, and The Unforgivable, starring Sandra Bullock, both doing tremendously well on Netflix, a very similar new film starring Milla Jovovich was released in theaters. The movie in question grossed just $2 million in its box-office run in March 2026, which is roughly one hundredth of what Jovovich’s Resident Evil films used to gross worldwide around a decade ago. But the action star hasn’t had a hit since her tenure on that franchise concluded in 2017 with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide.
She attempted to launch two new series with her director husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, with Monster Hunter and In the Lost Lands. But both movies failed to recoup their respective reported budgets of $60 million and $55 million. Jovovich’s new film was directed by Adrian Grünberg, who broke out with the Mel Gibson-led action movie Get the Gringo several years ago and went on to direct Rambo: Last Blood, starring Sylvester Stallone. Both movies had a similar premise, as does his movie with Jovovich, which follows an ex-soldier who is pulled back into her former life when her daughter is kidnapped.
Milla Jovovich’s New Movie Has a Bizarre Third-Act Twist
The movie we’re talking about is Protector. Released theatrically in March, it received poor reviews and is now sitting at a 21% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website’s consensus reads, “Only intermittently redeemed by Milla Jovovich’s ferocious performance amid its otherwise ridiculous and uninspired execution, Protector veers into baffling, trope-leaden revenge flick territory.” In his review, Collider’s Robert Brian Taylor compared the film to Liam Neeson‘s blockbuster Taken and praised Jovovich’s central performance, but criticized the movie for spending “way too much of its time recycling the most basic of action movie tropes.”
Despite the poor reviews and underwhelming box-office performance, Protector seems to be finding an audience at home. According to FlixPatrol, it was among the most-watched movies on the domestic iTunes chart following its debut this week, when the leaderboard was topped by Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Housemaid, and Send Help.
You can watch Protector at home and make up your own mind about its left-field climax. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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March 6, 2026
- Runtime
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92 minutes
- Director
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Adrian Grünberg
- Writers
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Mun-Bong Seub
- Producers
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Ho-Sung Pak, Kenneth H. Kim, Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier, Mun-Bong Seub, Ceasar Richbow