Film: Taken 3
Starring: Liam Neeson
Directed by: Olivier Megaton

Seven years after first saving his daughter from an underground prostitution ring, Bryan Mills is back once more with a story that lacks the heart, grit, and fun that previously set the Taken franchise apart.

The setting is Los Angeles, and for the first time since he and his wife were abducted abroad in Taken 2 Bryan Mills is finally living the life he always wanted. He’s close with his daughter, Kim, and he’s managed to remain close with his ex-wife, Lenore. It’s clear the horrors of previous years no longer haunt the family, but soon they find themselves in a new world of trouble when Mills comes home one afternoon to discover Lenore lying in his bed with her throat slit. It’s clear whoever killed her wanted to frame Bryan, and he unknowingly plays right into their hand. When the police arrive on scene, however, the inexperienced officers are no match for Mills’ particular set of skills. He disappears, hurt and very angry, with revenge on his mind.

It’s easy to understand the pitch meeting that no doubt led to Taken 3 being created. The setup and execution, while poorly handled, are obviously trying to modernize the plot of The Fugitive for young audiences. Neeson is Harrison Ford, a seemingly average man who has a specific skill set that allows him to evade police and defend himself against bad guys long enough to solve a crime. Meanwhile Forrest Whitaker does his best to be Tommy Lee Jones. The only problem is, the script lacks the engaging dialogue and originality needed to make the story come to life. It assumes people already care about this family, as well as their continued well being, so it moves from plot point to plot point without developing any tension. There is no rising action, and there certainly is no true climax. Everything simply happens, and Bryan Mills does what he always does, only without the grit or stylish flare of previous films.

It’s not really Neeson’s fault, though, as he’s doing the best with the material he’s been given. The direction of Taken 3 is also very much at fault, as it relies on lens flares too numerous too count, not to mention poorly rendered CGI, to give the events on screen a pulse. Over forty-five minutes pass before the first true action sequence occurs, and when those scenes do occur they’re executed with shaky cam reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. It’s clear there is a lot of computer generated chaos at work, but also that the filmmakers are trying to cover up an uninteresting battle by making it more difficult to see. It’s as if they believe the erratic camera movement will make us believe the fight taking place between two men with their bare fists is somehow more extreme. It doesn’t. At all.

All this aside, the biggest problem with Taken 3 is that it offers nothing to further develop the franchise except the death of Lenore. As that plot point is something that has been marketing alongside the film since day one, its occurrence in the context of the film is no surprise at all. That event happens early and off screen, which leaves nearly an hour for a PG-13 revenge story and at least four separate sequences where police are incapable of getting and/or keeping Mills in custody. It’s like being on a roller coaster, except there are no hills and the twists are clear from a mile away. You know there are supposed to be thrills involved, but you feel nothing.

Taken 3 is a film that has no point and no need to exist. It’s the final chapter in a saga that should have signed off after its original feature, yet for some reason (most likely money) it continues to attack our good taste with not one, but two increasingly nauseating sequels. That latest fails to match the tone, structure, and pacing of the previous films, while also having nothing unique to offer audiences outside of several horrendously bad CGI action sequences. It’s heartless entertainment that will be forgotten almost as soon as the credits roll.

GRADE: D-

Review written by James Shotwell Follow @utgjames

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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