Review of Taken 3 (2014) by Russell G — 05 Jan 2016

At a high level Taken is excellent, Taken 2 is a shamefully flimsy, and Taken 3 is somewhere in between. It still pales in comparison to the first movie but at least the story holds water this time. Liam Neeson's character finds himself framed for killing his ex-wife, who he never stopped loving.

He is running from the police while simultaneously trying to find and prove who killed the woman he loved. If that sounds familiar, that is because it is exactly the premise of the classic 1993 movie, The Fugitive.

Needles to say, it is not as good. Unoriginality aside, it is still a reasonable premise and gives legitimate motivation the character. The path to discovering the murderer lacks interest. It is painfully obvious who the bad-guys are and what is happening all too soon.

The writers seem to know this and try to compensate with a complex sub-plot motivation of the killer. More attention to the detective hunting down the wrongfully accused hero and his investigation would have helped create interest that is more meaningful.

It lacks craft in the storytelling. The larger issue is that the stunts, escapes, and action scenes are so incredibly overblown. I know the hero is a former super soldier, but reality goes out the window.

Complete realism is not necessary, but when it gets so carried away the sense of danger and concern for the characters fades. When that sense of danger or suspense is broken, the audience cares less. It is still good fun, but it is somewhat disposable.