TRIGGER WARNING (NETFLIX) (2024)

SYNOPSIS: A skilled Special Forces commando (Alba) takes ownership of her father's bar after he suddenly dies and soon finds herself at odds with a violent gang running rampant in her hometown. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

A woman walks into a bar and asks her bartender friend…

Despite starring Jessica Alba who returns to the screen after a long hiatus, Trigger Warning feels like a bad bar joke armed without a punchline and practically falls flat.

The opening scene showcases Alba’s character, Parker as a kick-ass military personnel. Upon learning about her pops’ death, Parker returns to her hometown to take over his bar and also literally, his man-cave. Don’t ask why but it’s there for a purpose. As she notices some unusual details surrounding his death, Parker decides to dig deeper with the help of her bartender friend, Mike (Gabriel Basso).

It turns out there is some serious arms smuggling involving the town’s senator, Ezekiel Swann (Anthony Michael Hall), his sons, Sheriff Jesse (Mark Webber) also conveniently Parker’s ex-beau and Elvis (Jake Weary), the no-good younger brother.

Taking a cue from Walking Tall and Rambo, Trigger Warning offers a been-there, done-that narrative with a female protagonist instead of a macho male. Simply put, it’s a story of a trained soldier riding into town to wipe off the corruption and violence. To be fair, Alba is significantly ripped for the role and well-prepared for the various physical stunts. However, she alone can’t salvage the uninteresting revenger tale.

While we can definitely accept a sloppy, predictable actioner, Trigger Warning fails on all levels on how to execute one. Firstly, the premise is extremely ridiculous. Apparently, a senator can control an entire town and pulled off a felony to sustain his political campaign. Secondly, Parker can carry out her role as a vigilante without informing any higher authorities. Come on, she is a government personal after all. And where did all those so-called terrorists came from? And who is responsible for all the arms smuggling in the army base?

End of day, Trigger Warning decides to ignore all common sense and logic. Even another bartender named Mo and the rest of the town folks are equipped with arms and ready to fight against the villains in the finale. It’s so ridiculous and probably by this time, you already gave up on it.

Produced by the people behind John Wick and Alba herself, Trigger Warning should be remained in Netflix hell never to be release to the public. Easily a forgettable direct-to-VOD title that features less than imaginative action, story and dialogue.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee