THE PROTECTOR (1998)
Directed by: Boon Collins & Fabien Lloyd
Screenplay: John McFetridge, Boon Collins, Russel Langille
Story: Robert Cousins
Starring: Frank Zagarino, Matthias Hues & Steven Nijjar
Ok, so this is not The
Protector that is the underrated 80s action flick which was Jackie Chan’s
first bid at Hollywood stardom but rather a low budget and quite frankly insane
action film from the 90s. This one stars B-action movie stalwarts Frank
Zagarino, Matthias Hues and Steven Nijjar. Wait, who? Fans of 80s and 90s
straight-to-video action films will no doubt know who Zagarino (Shadowchaser films) and Hues (No Retreat No Surrender 2) are but who
the hell is Steven Nijjar? Well he’s the main principal here, not to mention he
also produced this low budget oddity, and spends most of his time running
around trying to dodge bullets and fisticuffs. And when he’s not dodging either
of those he, well, does more running! Seriously, half the 90 minute runtime is
Mr Nijjar just running around and away from various things, and while he has
great stamina and rarely breaks a sweat, you do begin to wonder what the hell
is he running from now, especially when he’s got to find his memory, rescue his
once-thought-to-be-dead-son, and thwart Hues’ big, bad and oh so camp bad guy.
Ultra low budget action tripe, The Protector is all kinds of action insaneness. Memory wipes,
missing sons, chicks with guns (and berets!) and lots of non-acting (mainly
courtesy of Nijjar), The Protector
certainly has a lot of cool and crazy ingredients but delivers them in such a
chaotic and incoherent way it will no doubt even test the patience of even the
most hardened action trash fan. However, despite all its silliness the film has
3 tricks up its sleeve that makes it worth a punt. One and two: Zagarino and
Hues. Three: tons and tons and tons (and tons) of action! It’s always great to
see Zagarino and Hues (they even get a cool fight!) kicking ass, even in one of
their more rare action titles such as this. Zagarino does look pissed off the
whole time though gets to crack wise about his ex-wife and bust a lot of skulls
and Hues is a hoot as the camper than camp villain complete with leopard print
shirts, continuous cigars and a bevy of beret wearing/machine gun toting
beauties at his disposal. The two stars certainly make the flick more watchable
and both get ample opportunity to kick ass and dispense firepower.
And credit where credit is due, The Protector is crammed to the rafters with action. It rarely lets
up with fight after fight (some good, some not), explosions, vehicle
destruction and machine gun firing awesomeness. The action may be a little rough
and ready but its lively, well sustained and makes the flick all that more
enjoyable. There is even an elaborate scene where our hero has his feet set on
fire but continues to fight and then escapes gunfire by jumping through a
window, all the while still on fire! Cool. The less said about the continue
re-use of the same corridor in the climactic siege of the villains lair the
better (and not to mention the fact Hues is often shooting at nothing off
camera!) but for a ultra low budget action flick done by some people that,
well, wanted to make their own action film, The
Protector delivers action, action and more action.
You laugh (unintentionally), you’ll cry (as it sometimes
hurts!), you’ll hurl (mainly because of Hues’ shirts) and you’ll probably be
entertained.