El protector

Wow, did they get things wrong with this movie.

BEWARE: THIS IS NOT A TOUGH ACTION MOVIE. AT ALL.

Worst combination of genres possible. Clint Eastwood perfected the tough guy genre. Liam Neeson did it again with the "Taken" series. But Antonio Banderas fails to become a real tough guy. Not because he cant act like one, but because of this TERRIBLE script that cant seem to decide wether this is sentimental tearjerker or a tough action crime movie.

Not any good? Well, the start was really violent and heavy and impressive. I honestly thought I was in for a solid butch action crime movie. But that promising start only lasted for some 20 minutes. Bummer!

The bad: then after some 20 minutes we suddenly get to see "tough" criminal Antonio Banderas suddenly turn into a sentimental dad, stuttering and embarassing himself while seeing his daughter for the first time in years.

Then after that we get to see minutes long of a lovey dovey romantic scene with another supposedly "tough" crime guy. And this goes on and on throughout the entire movie. Apperently sentimental wokism has even penetrated the crime movies genre!

Really strange and CRINGEWORTHY mix of ( a little bit) of violence and LOTS of sentimental lovey dovey stuff.

But its not outstanding in any matter, its projects that ''starting to get worn out'' actors do, when the ka-ching busters are way in the past, just to survive, a enforcer and his apprentice, with a little bit fighting, a little bit violence, a little bit gore and a little bit of love and emotions. Its mostly flat on caracter development, and youll have to be deep in the dark to eventually pick up the code of the language used. Also the end part where somewhat abrubt and storyless, they couldve made more there and quit some nonsense erotic scenes that plotwise where pretty much used as a timefiller.

But nevertheless, mr banderas saves the pieces of glory in the end, he has still the voice and the demeanors to act as a keg of black powder, the grumpy old man just wonder if he speaks so gebrochent english in real life??? A small recommend.

Some of the external reviews say this film is "predictable." Not really a fair criticism, all films are predictable in that they all have a beginning a middle and an end. They all tell a story. The real issue is, is the film entertaining, does it hold the attention, does it connect? In this one, Banderas (age 62!) plays the semi-retired hitman feeling pangs of regret, trying to do the right thing. Similar to 1995's Assassins, where he played opposite Stallone. Does the film work? Yes? Mainly because of his star power, good direction, editing, casting. He makes you care about what happens next. Above average. Recommended. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Nothing wrong with the plot being that common, if it is done right.

It gets 4 stars, because i watched from start to end, but I felt like giving up constantly.. Its far too slow paced and isnt really that engaging.

Yo could skip the first 70 minutes and you'll get all the action, and enough story to undesrstand what was all about. It could have been a short film (~25 min) and acomplished the same, and more.

Banderas did a good job, but the rest of the cast was just mediocre. The dialogue was dull and felt forced most of the time.

For me at least, felt like a waste of time and most likely i will just forget about it pretty soon.

Recently it seems like Antonio Banderas has taken the same DTV route as many other aging action stars like Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, John Travolta etc making mediocre DTV movies for a big paycheck.

The Enforcer isn't the worst movie DTV movie I've seen this year but it's not the best either. Kate Bosworth and rapper "2 Chains" essentially have extended cameos here that don't amount to much. Banderas is the real star here and for it's worth he actually is in this movie for a majority of it and puts effort into the role.

Unfortunately despite Banderas giving his full effort "The Enforcer" is a mediocre crime thriller with a played out redemption story that we've all seen too many times by this point.