Reed Wojick
Staff Writer
The phone rings, ex-CIA black ops Bryan Mills hears the chilling repertoire of an all-too-familiar voice, and knows that it’s time for him to go on yet another mission.
“Taken 3,” the semi-thrilling and foreseeable film, directed by Olivier Megaton, comes up with desperate, anticipatory, and unrealistic fight scenes, which seem to leave the audience empty handed.
The played out duo of Liam Neeson and Maddie Grace seems forced and certainly does not create any thrills. Although the plot consists of some twists like an unexpected murderer, it is predictable and lacks quality. The film subsists of Liam Neeson, portraying Bryan Mills, who tries to figure out who murdered his ex-wife, Lenore.
Neeson’s character is framed by some unknown character , whose identity is only revealed at the end of the film, a mystery that keeps him running swiftly, dodging bullets, and inexplicably leaving civilians wounded and dead. An obnoxious amount of cars and highways are destroyed, creating an annoyance towards Neeson’s character.
Mills goes to the full extent to discover who framed him and who killed his ex-wife, forcing him to put his “particular set of skills” to good use for the third time. However, in order to fulfill his mission, he must protect the only thing that matters to him, his daughter.
Though the movie was hyped and anticipated, it is annoyingly repetitive for anyone who has seen the first and second “Taken”. Neeson plays an exact replica from each film of the trilogy, yet does prove that a good old fashioned action film is much needed in today’s film industry in order to create variety. The “new” script lacks monologue, climax, and purpose, like the unnecessary one-liners that create awkward pauses throughout the film.
The new writers, Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, pen a chapter in the life of Mills that is almost entirely removed from the interconnected narrative of past films, while at the same time fail to reveal new layers for the central characters to explore. Overall, the film has a dry, boring plot that definitely does not uphold its reputation of being a classic action-thriller. Instead, it leaves the viewers wanting more excitement and thrill.
Other than an explosion every scene that Neeson seems to be running through, passing up every police officer that chased him, it was monotonous and cliche as most action films are. Possibly trying to continue the trilogy, it drew in many fans, yet lost them twenty minutes into the film. The good news is Liam Neeson proves that at a somewhat elderly age of 62, one can still play an experienced crime fighter and sniper. “Taken 3” filmmakers lose sight of nearly everything that makes the first film a memorable action-thriller, most notably watching Mills navigate the line between good guy and merciless killing machine.
“Taken 3” is rated PG-13 and is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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