Trigger Warning Review: Mouly Surya’s Lifeless Tribute to Cannon Group

With Trigger warning, Netflix will never, ever beat claims that they are the modern iteration of The Cannon Group, filling their algorithm with stupid “content” produced through B-grade storylines featuring stars who can win quickly money. films that most people will completely forget about by the end. The only difference between the company led by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters is that it has none of the schlock and overstimulation that made the films under the belt of Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus so memorable and fun to watch.

If you didn’t believe this statement, scenes from the Lance Hool movie Missing 2: The Beginning are played during a scene in which Parker (Jessica Alba) remembers her late father (Alejandro De Hoyos) and are replayed once the film’s main villains discover the footprint in his cave, which they gaze upon and admire Chuck Norris’ flawless talents as an action star (but not so much as a legitimate actor).

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Is this also why the film opens with Jessica Alba chasing (stereotypically) Arab terrorists and killing them in the same senseless, cartoonish way that Menahem Golan framed them while directing the film? Delta Force? All that was left was Alan Silvestri’s music, and you could swear Golan rose from the grave and directed this sequence.

Yet the “cold open” has nothing to do with the content of the film, except that Parker is introduced as a special forces commando with a “morally gray area”, who receives a call from the sheriff Jesse Swann (Mark Webber) informing him that his father died during this time. a mining accident in his hometown.

Of course, something goes wrong, in typical Cannon band fashion, and the “accident” is not at all what it seems. Worse still, the Sherriff might be in the mix with his brother (Jake Weary) and father (Anthony Michael Hall), a prominent conservative politician running for re-election.

Now, Parker will only uncover the truth if she acts as her town’s judge, jury, and executioner. Part Delta Force. Part Death Wish 3. Inspired by the work of Golan-Globus, without the energy and camp that made those disgusting films guilty pleasures.

Jessica Alba returns to acting with mediocre results In Trigger warning

It’s as interesting as Trigger warning is the vehicle that brought Jessica Alba back into the acting world after many years of inactivity (her last major role was in the 2016 film). Mechanics: Resurrection). This sounds like exactly the type of movie Charles Bronson would make in the 1980s with Michael Winner or J. Lee Thompson (via Cannon) to resurrect his flagging career. Straightforward action films that kick ass on screen, but with a lead performance that has absolutely no regard for the story at hand.

But what story is there? Parker’s relationship with his father is incredibly thin, if only for the brief flashbacks we get with a younger version of the character bonding with him in the cave. We learn very little about their relationship or Parker’s connection to his bar, which was his life’s work. It also doesn’t help that the mystery surrounding his death is quickly resolved when Parker suspects the Swanns of being responsible for the “accident”, which they quickly reveal themselves to be the perpetrators.

That’s good and all, but Trigger warning goes virtually nowhere with the basic but still exciting idea of ​​a corrupt politician (and policeman) controlling the city as they work in the shadows with “Ghost” (Kaiwi Lyman), a money dealer weapons on the domestic terrorist list (I say this because the movie takes time to highlight this element as a massive plot point that this dude is menacing and should not be taken lightly) which has the development of parchment paper. He appears out of nowhere, has nothing to do, and is quickly taken care of by Parker in a poorly choreographed and poorly lit fight sequence.

Trigger warning Has competent action scenes, but…

It’s weird because some of his action scenes, especially in the first half of the film, are well choreographed and shot, exactly the kind of thing you’d see in a Joseph Zito, Lance Hool, or Michael film Winner. But they don’t last very long, and in turn we get long dialogue scenes that add very little to the (supposedly) character work and ongoing story.

In fact, there is no story in Trigger warning. The motivations of his antagonists are incredibly vague and we rarely spend time with them, while Parker’s only goal is to “bring justice” to the people who killed his father. The vanity of Trigger warning is that it could have been great if Alba cared more than in the finished product (in most of the action scenes, she’s clearly her stunt double), and there would be legitimate motivations for her to becoming the aforementioned judge, jury, and executioner.

Each Death wish The film has Paul Kersey returning to vigilante duty in every episode, but Parker’s motivations for doing the same thing (without investigating his father’s death) are lackadaisical at best.

Although it clearly doesn’t help Alba that the script by John Brancato, Josh Holson and Halley Gross contains lines equivalent to “How many children have you killed with that SHIIIIIIIIIIT?” as Charles Bronson said in Death Wish 4: Repression. Even the greatest actor in the world couldn’t save such an inert scenario.

But at least these films were fun and had energy in front of and behind the camera. We can appreciate the overt maximalism on display, even if the content of the films themselves is incredibly politically incorrect by any standards and would never be made today. The Netflix version of the Golan-Globus model has nothing to show for other than competing for the same attention through their money laundering schemes as the biggest Hollywood studios without ever releasing any of their films theatrically at all. attempting to gain prestige with potential Best Picture contenders during awards season.

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Apple beat them to it because they support large-scale theaters and create far more compelling films than Sarandos et al. never will be. And despite a competent director at Mouly Surya attached to Trigger Warning, no person or talent could have ever stopped this project from being anything other than another cog in Netflix’s ever-expanding algorithm to increase the number of films released each year. Unlike The Cannon Group, Netflix is ​​certainly not dynamite. Trigger warning is now streaming on Netflix.

1.5/5

About Trigger Warning

Release date: June 21, 2024
Director: Mouly Surya
Scenario: John Brancato, Josh Olson, Halley Gross
Music: Enis Rotthof
Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Esther Hornstein
Production: Thunder Road Films, Lady Spitfire
Distribution: Netflix
Cast: Jessica Alba, Anthony Michael Hall, Mark Webber, Jake Weary, Tone Bell, Alejandro De Hoyos and Gabriel Basso

Synopsis: Special Forces commando Parker (Jessica Alba) is on active duty overseas when she is called back to her hometown with the tragic news of her father’s sudden death. Now the owner of the family bar, Parker reconnects with her former boyfriend-turned-sheriff Jesse (Mark Webber), her short-tempered brother Elvis (Jake Weary), and their powerful father, Senator Swann (Anthony Michael Hall), as she seems to understand what happened to his father.

Parker’s search for answers quickly goes south and she soon finds herself at odds with a violent gang plaguing her hometown. Unsure of who she can truly trust, Parker draws on her commando training and proves to be a force to be reckoned with as she tracks down the truth and attempts to right what’s wrong in the county from Swann, with the help of his black ops partner and hacker Spider (Tone Bell) and connected local dealer Mike (Gabriel Basso).

\What did you think of the film Trigger Warning? Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow us on social media!

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