Jessica Alba in the Netflix action thriller

Jessica Alba in “Trigger Warning”.

Courtesy of Netflix

Jessica Alba’s new film starring in the lead role has plenty of action movie credentials. The star, who is making her first feature film appearance in five years after leading her company The Honest Company to a valuation of over a billion dollars, has already proven her mettle in film and television projects including Dark Angel and that Fantastic Four And Sin City Franchises. The production company Thunder Road boasts of John wick And Sicario films among his credits. And his trio of screenwriters is responsible for such efforts as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, A history of violence and HBO’s Westworld.

Even more impressive is that the film’s creative team includes many women, including Indonesian director Mouly Surya (Marlina, the murderess in four acts), who made her English-language debut here, and cinematographer Zoe White (The Handmaid’s Tale). Despite all efforts to deliver a feminine action film in which the main character feels like a female Rambo, Trigger warningpremiering on Netflix, proves to be disturbingly familiar.

The tough credibility of Alba’s character Parker, a special forces commando, is evident right from the opening scene, where she effortlessly takes out several terrorist types in the desert. She also shows herself to be honorable, as shown by her angry reaction when one of her comrades takes it upon himself to execute the prisoners and she violently puts him in his place.

Not long after, she learns that her father has died in a mine collapse, and she returns to her desert home, symbolically not-so-subtly named Creation. Unsurprisingly, trouble follows her there, because she’s barely back in town for a day when she single-handedly foils a robbery by overpowering three bad guys, one of whom is wielding an automatic weapon. She’s clearly a skilled fighter, not just with guns, but in hand-to-hand combat, with knives and, as prominently featured later, machetes.

If this were not an action film, Parker would be mourning her father, receiving condolences from her friends and probably returning to active duty. But she is eluded by happiness. She suspects that the death was not an accident, suicide or, as her former friend and current sheriff Jesse (Mark Webber, Green space) suggests a consequence of progressive dementia.

Her suspicions prove correct, as she uncovers a criminal plot to use the mine to steal weapons from a nearby military depot. The plot involves Jesse’s father (former teen star Anthony Michael Hall, who has grown into his villainous looks as he ages), a corrupt senator – with conservative views, of course – and Jesse’s unpredictable brother Elvis (Jake Weary).

For support, Parker enlists the help of her colleague Spider (stand-up comedian/actor Tone Bell), who works in covert operations and is an experienced computer hacker, as well as Mike (Gabriel Basso), a local drug dealer who is like a little brother to her.

The plot follows the formula you’d expect, despite the trio’s attempts to add a little quirkiness to the proceedings, such as when Senator Parker tells him his great-grandfather was Native American. “That’s where I got my lactose intolerance,” he remarks disparagingly.

Most importantly, it’s an excuse for Alba to show off her impressive physical fitness in a series of intense fight scenes that are so masterfully choreographed that wild cuts show bodies in motion rather than just limbs flying around.

Director Surya proves he has mastered the form, delivering enough satisfying bone-crushing and knife scenes to satisfy undemanding, action-hungry viewers looking for mindless distraction on a weekend. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose when Parker asks one of her friends, “You wouldn’t happen to have any guns lying around, would you?”

Unfortunately, while Alba is more than competent, she doesn’t have the charisma to make her character particularly interesting or, as Netflix probably hopes, to be the catalyst for a new action franchise. When the generically titled Trigger warning reaches its predictable end, you’ll be excited to see what the streamer’s omniscient algorithms have in store for you next.