The Protector

A ex-Merc turned computer game programmer John Templeton (Ed Marinaro) is on a mission to help any woman who need help from psycho boyfriend to stalkers. Templeton's wife was murder by a stalker, so he became a one man crusade to stop all bad guys. When a lady (Kate Rodgers) is getting harrashed by a mobester boyfriend (cyril O'Reily), it's templeton to the rescue. Lee Majors has a 5 minutes part as a Templeton's ex-commander, who now is a hired killer, who goes after Templeton. Major's play a character name Austin (I wonder if his first name is Steve?) It's good to see Majors and even Marinaro in a film for they have been kind of missing, but this Corman/Saban co-production is cheezy and cheap looking. Very little location and the lighting is terrible. Recommended to for someone looking for a quick video rental for a "B" action film.

There aren't too many surprises with The Protector. It's above-average B-movie fare with a very obvious plot. While formula may be all right for some actioners, The Protector exposes its flaws through its lethargic pace. There are some clever elements that almost push the film into something more than a B-flick, but they are few and far between, and are quickly forgotten when other plot holes appear. Still, there are some good performances by the leads: Ed Marinaro is convincing as an ex-mercenary and some (not all) of his fight scenes are well choreographed; Kate Rodger is confident in her role and thankfully not a typical damsel-in-distress. Cyril O'Reilly is suitably villainous (not in a menacing way, but his jealous character appears irritating enough) but Grant James's portrayal of a Mafia godfather is too stereotypical to be believable. Perhaps that was meant as comic relief.

This movie aired late at night on New Zealand network television a year after its original release, which is probably where it belongs. Better than most junk at that hour, but forgettable all the same.