Taken 3 Movie Review

The third installment in the Taken franchise is said to be the last as indicated in the film’s tagline. But, instead of going out with a bang, Taken 3 fizzled out. It was a film no longer trying to live up to the first film.

A lot of things were wrong with Taken 3. The main thing would be that no one was “Taken.” The first film got all the hype and lived up to that hype because of the search and rescue plot of the film. It was good story which was followed by a mediocre sequel. I think it was hard to live up the original and Taken 3 is a solid proof of that.

In Taken 3, Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills is in the US living in his apartment and having regular visits from his ex-wife and daughter. But things go wrong when he is framed with murder of his wife. In the first film, his daughter was taken. In the second, he and his ex-wife were taken. In the third, no one got taken. Well, no one that can be saved.

The formula for the Taken films is always search and rescue. Taken 2 sort of broke that rule with Mills being taken and rescuing himself and his ex-wife. But for the third, it’s all about revenge, justice and the protection of his daughter, Kim.

The film is predictable even from the start when the Russians killed an executive inside a vault. After that scene you can easily pinpoint who is behind this and why Mills’ wife got killed. From there it’s all about running from the cops, getting to the bad guys and ending flat with a scene in a bench.

Neeson pretty much did well as Mills but the cast surrounding him didn’t fare as well. Maggie Grace who plays Kim pretty much downplays her character from what we saw in Taken 2. Forest Whittaker is not fully used in the film. He is an Oscar winner and yet the most compelling scene which has him in it is in a police briefing. We could have at least Whitaker and Neeson trade some punches but alas, all we got was small talk via a cellphone and a talk in the office.

Action wise, Taken 3 does not live up to the first and second film. The first film showed us that Neeson can do action and deliver great action sequences. In Taken 2, we got a rise in body count with a lot of action. But the third had forgettable sequences and mediocre gun play.

In all, Taken 3 is not worth the trip. It is forgettable, predictable and toned down compared to the previous films. It isn’t even worth calling Taken. As the tagline says, it ends here. Let’s hope that’s true and we won’t get to see Taken 4. I give it 6 out of 10.