Taken 3 Reviews

To be honest,  I wasn't expecting much from this movie. I mean, sure, I have to admit that 'Taken' was a solid action flick but I don't think it was anything really mind-blowing and it definitely didn't provide enough material to launch a franchise. Anyway, since the two previous installments turned out to be quite successful at the box-office, of course, they had to come up with another sequel but, seriously, Luc Besson was even lazier than usual here. Indeed, basically, the whole thing turned out to be a really weak and boring copy of 'The Fugitive'. Sure, they could have taken some worse inspiration but what made 'The Fugitive' so entertaining was the fact that the main character was just some average guy. Here, you had a heavily trained killing machine with a way to easy access to some high-tech gadgets so most of the fun was gone. To make things worse, Liam Neeson looked seriously bored and even rather out of shape. In fact, he clearly stated that I didn't really want to make another one and the main (and maybe only) reason he still got involved was the 20 millions dollars paycheck they gave him. To conclude, I have seen worse but it was still a rather weak final installment and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Independently a fine movie rather being associated with TAKEN.

Actually, it was not a bad movie, I really enjoyed it. But associated with 'Taken' and being the third film in the series was the setback. Because unlike the first two films, this one was somewhat detached from the original theme. Except the cast from the previous two, the story takes place in a completely different platform. From all the three films, the phone call between father and daughter was retained, but was not effective as the first one which became just a trademark of the series, that's all.

The first half creates the puzzle and next half solves it. As expected, it was a typical structure in this trilogy, but the last quarter was turned into something like 'Mission Impossible'. In 'Taken' films, Bryan Mills (our lead guy) works alone, but he formed a team with a tech guy and others. That does not sound good, at least tried to be different from the original movie.

It is a little disappointment for 'Taken' fans, but you will have a best shot if you see it as an independent one off movie. Yes could have made a better action flick if it was not linked to it. Hope it all ends here like they have said. As a trilogy, it failed, or maybe we can call it a 50-50. But the first one was a masterpiece, a trendsetting piece.

6.5/10

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

In the last review I posted on this site, I mentioned that I'd started a new blog on Blog.com. Well, I turned my back on that because the site was becoming far too unstable; most of the time, it just didn't load. (It seems fine at the moment, but I didn't want to take that chance.) So now I've started afresh on Wordpress.com. The first review I posted on that blog was a compilation of all the 2015 releases I'd seen so far, starting with this one.

To tell you the truth, the only reason I saw this is because The Theory of Everything started earlier than I thought, and I didn't find out until I'd already bought the ticket, so I figured I might as well see something. What I got was, hands down, the worst of the Taken series so far. The plot doesn't even involve a kidnapping anymore; it's just another dime-a-dozen revenge story. And the action scenes are some of the worst ever, taking the unfortunately clichéd shaky cam and frenetic editing another step to absurdity; most of the time, I simply could not tell what was happening. That's really all I have to say: this movie's just worthless. But like I said, I paid for The Theory of Everything, so I can at least take comfort in the fact that my money went towards what I'm sure is a much better movie.

My rating: 40%

Don't get me wrong Liam Neeson is badass as Bryan Mills, but this trilogy has the Hangover Syndrome. It starts with a strong first film. Then it basically rehashes the same story for the sequel with slight tweaks to make it feel like a different story. Then finally it spits out a third film which nobody necessarily asked for and completely changes its formula. Do we still check it out to see what they will do? Hell yeah because we Americans are suckers for this kind of thing. It would be better if they had come up with a different name like some other films have done for sequels. It had some decent moments some of which I personally haven't seen done before. The action however was kind of sparse. I found myself kind of bored with this one. Just like Forest Whitaker I had everything figured out from the beginning. It looks as if Olivier Megaton loves to kill trilogies with their final installments. I was really disappointed in this.

"If you go down this road, the LAPD, the FBI, the CIA... they're all gonna come for you. They'll find you. And they'll stop you."

Despite sharing the same writers as the original Taken, 2014's Taken 3 feels as if it was created by filmmakers who were oblivious to what made the 2008 gem such a breakout success. Years on, Taken still stands as a superior action offering; a bruising, fast-paced slice of primo entertainment elevated by top-notch technical specs and the presence of seasoned thespian Liam Neeson. Taken 2 hopelessly missed its mark, and Taken 3 is even worse, ill-advisedly trying to reinvent the franchise by becoming a mystery-thriller that rips off The Fugitive, as opposed to being the balls-to-the-wall actioner that we all wanted. Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, it's not cerebral enough to succeed on its own terms, and it utterly fails as over-the-top fun. It doesn't help that Taken 2 director Olivier Megaton returned for this instalment, further demonstrating his incompetence when it comes to pacing, storytelling, and, most heartbreakingly, action.

Following the events of the first two movies, Bryan Mills (Neeson) is living a comfortable life, and now maintains stable relationships with those that matter the most to him: beloved daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). However, Lenore is murdered in Bryan's apartment and the former government operative is framed for the crime. Pursued by Inspector Franck Dotzler (Forest Whitaker), Bryan goes on the run to prove his innocence, seeking help from his old CIA buddies Sam (Leland Orser), Casey (Jon Gries) and Bernie (David Warshofsky).

Megaton has a poor track record with Besson's EuropaCorp company - he killed the Jason Statham-starring Transporter series with the subpar third instalment (a reboot is coming, with a different actor), and he mucked up Taken 2. Added to this, while doing the promotional rounds for the second film, Megaton admitted that he's not a fan of sequels or action films. So, why the fuck does this preposterously-named hack still get directorial work?

Taken 3 feels closer to A Walk Among the Tombstones than the first Taken, as the movie spends most of its time focusing on exposition and story. Tombstones was actually good, however, as it was R-rated, legitimately interesting and sophisticated. Taken 3, on the other hand, is contrived and dull as dishwater. There's no verve or style here, nor is there any sophistication or smarts. Worse, the justification for Lenore's murder and for Bryan being framed is mind-numbingly stupid and convoluted. The reveal is not even shocking; it carries no weight and makes no impact. Instead, you sit back and wonder if they're actually serious. Admittedly, it's interesting to see Bryan working with his trio of resourceful friends that were introduced in the first movie, and it's a bonus to have Whitaker as an intelligent cop. Too bad the movie does fuck all with these characters.

Action fans seeking a fix should look elsewhere - Taken 3 has nothing to satisfy you. There is almost no action here. There's a tiny smattering of fisticuffs, a couple of foot chases and a grand total of two shootouts, one of which is so brief that it barely qualifies as an action scene. This stuff will barely keep you awake. The climactic gunfight in particular is lacklustre and vanilla, with not a drop of blood to be seen. Most embarrassing is witnessing one of Bryan's victims being shot while his shirt is open; his gut wounds should be spewing with blood, but instead he refuses to bleed as he, um, “bleeds out” and dies with mere ink stains on his stomach. Taken 3 doesn't even feel PG-13... it feels G-rated! Neeson seems to be love-slapping policemen to knock them out, and Lenore's slashed neck looks like a hickey. Making matters worse, when Bryan unleashes his trademark skills, the editing and camerawork are flat-out awful - most of the fights are incomprehensible. When an action movie cannot deliver so much as a modicum of good quality action, there's a huge problem.

As to be expected, Neeson remains a solid leading man. His endless charisma is about the only thing saving the production from total inertia. Neeson is badass as always, which is why it's a huge shame that the material fails to serve him. Whitaker, too, is solid, bringing some degree of gravitas to the proceedings. The rest of the cast fails to make much of an impact, though, with Maggie Grace looking fairly uninterested. Lenore's husband Stuart is re-cast here, with Dougray Scott replacing the older, more placid Xander Berkeley from the first film. It's a jarring change, and though Scott is a decent actor, his presence is ultimately a bit of a spoiler. After all, Scott plays shady characters and is renowned for villains. Go figure.

With its flimsy narrative and utterly generic construction, it feels as if the screenplay for Taken 3 was initially written as some cheap straight-to-video distraction, but was ultimately retooled to include Bryan Mills. Ironically, the end product might have been superior if it did remain in the straight-to-video realm starring somebody like Scott Adkins, as it would most likely have been R-rated and included some decent action. Unfortunately, we're left with this incredible dud; a painfully leaden, cynical cash-in that ends the Taken series with a resounding whimper and feels a lot longer than its 109-minute running time. Taken did deserve sequels and it really wouldn't have been too difficult to make a successful follow-up. The formula is simple: a badass Liam Neeson killing hordes of nameless extras in a dumb fun actioner. But, apparently, Besson and co. wanted to make something classier by toning down the action, resulting in a movie that's still powerfully dumb but no fun at all.

2.1/10