It’s hardly surprising that an air of weariness hangs over Taken as the third entry in any most any franchise starts to look ragged
around the edges. However, what’s most
surprising is just how bad this sequel is when compared with the two films that
came before this. There’s nary an
original thought in sight here and while that hasn’t stopped other movies from
being well done (see last year’s underrated actioner John Wick), there’s a
sense here that everyone involved is simply going through the motions, biding
time as they see just how much of Los Angeles they can tear up in the process.
Realizing that the kidnapping angle has run its course in
the series, screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen decide instead to
borrow a page from The Fugitive, casting ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam
Neeson) as a man on the run, falsely accused of killing his wife. Attempting to prove his innocence, our hero goes
underground and, of course, uncovers a conspiracy involving Russian mobsters
out to collect a debt from someone surprisingly close to Mills.
Neeson appears tired throughout, as if the litany of action
films he’s made in the last five years has finally taken its toll. He’s still able to convincingly pull off the
physical demands of the role but it’s obvious that he realizes that this phase
of his career has run its course, that these movies offer him little in the way
of a challenge and that there’s little new he can bring to them.
Megaton knows he’s got nothing but standard action fare on
his hands and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t charged his two editors with
generating a bit of momentum through their cutting. However, this is the most spastic film I’ve
had the misfortune to sit through as the action scenes are nothing but a blur
of quick edits and random motion that results in nothing but visual confusion. If there’s a shot held for more than one
second during these sequences I’d be surprised though I can’t say for sure that
there’s not, as I often had to turn away from the screen as I felt the first
symptoms of motion sickness setting in on numerous occasions. Too bad this ride was far from fun.
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2015.
