Review ‘Taken 3’ From the Editor

Liam (Schindler’s List, Batman Begins) Neeson is quite possibly the best action hero of all time. And if anyone would have suggested such a thing even a decade ago, the collective moviegoers universe would have laughed hysterically. Hit after hit, each one even more bad ass than the last, he has proven time and again that he truly is a master of his craft.

And to be completely honest, it has redefined his career, giving him even more opportunities to build his already impressive resume. So when the first trailers arrived showing the finale to the surprise hit that became a trilogy, audiences were all in.

Director Olivier (Taken 2, Colombiana) Magaton reunites Neeson with actors Famke (the X-Men series, Nip/Tuck) Janssen, Maggie (Lost, The Following) Grace, Jon (The Pretender, Napoleon Dynamite) Gries, and Leland (ER, Se7en) Orser for the final installment of the trilogy no one ever expected to work out so well. But with new star power from Dougray (Hemlock Grove, Mission: Impossible II) Scott and Forest (Out of the Furnace, The Last King of Scotland) Whitaker, this last entry into a fantastic action series pulls out all of the stops.

Yes, Neeson is perfect and really makes the movie worth watching in its entirety, but it is a surprisingly charismatic Whitaker who matches wits and steals scenes from the star at almost every turn. It would be great to see the two square off again in another film and perhaps a different genre.

“Somebody murdered your mother in my house. I don’t know who did it or why, but I’ll find out,” Bryan Mills assures his daughter Kim. This forms the crux of “Taken 3”. Unlike its previous two editions, “Taken 3” is a scaled up, reminiscent, action-packed thriller whose premise is loosely based on the 1993-released Harrison Ford starrer “The Fugitive”. Set in Los Angeles, deadly ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) returns as a doting father to his now grown-up daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). He soon learns from his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is married to a multi-businessman Stuart (Dougray Scott), that she still fantasises about him and is considering a reconciliation.

The success of the original was half shock value and half surprising casting from an actor not normally known for being an action hero. The success of the sequel was that they essentially changed nothing and it gave audiences another taste of what made the first one so great. But for the last act in a series, it was important for the screenplay (co-written by the creator of the characters in the first film) be smart and a little different.

Instead of mounting a one-man rescue of his beloved family members, this time around, we got to see hero Bryan Mills on the run for a murder he did not commit. The first two films featured a great speech from Mills when threatening the bad guys, ending with a taunting “good luck” from them.

Visually, the plethora of impressive day and night aerial shots, gives the film a superior feel. But overall, with jerky camera moments, poor lighting to capture the atmospheric tension cinematographer, Eric Kress’s work is shifty and jarring. This, combined with super quick jump-cuts, mars the viewing experience, especially during the dramatic over-the-top action and chase scenes.

The background score is perfect except for a random Hindi song in one of the scenes. That score is unwarranted to the script and sounds illogical in the narrative. With the inclusion of this number, it is but obvious that director Olivier Megaton along with his producers, is trying to please a global audience and in the bargain, have delivered a mediocre kitsch.

Taken 3 will almost assuredly be a big moneymaker, but the series should end here as promised. There’s no longer any stakes, the storytelling has gotten abysmal, and the series has completely abandoned the premise that made it interesting. Liam Neeson deserves better.