Review: Taken 3

Quite Taken In...

1 star

Mini Review:

Watching a movie to review when you're smitten by the lead character is a daft thing to do. But despite being wholly predictable, the movie makes you want to know how the hero will win...

Main Review:

Ever since Liam Neeson picked up the phone and spoke his mind, one has been smitten by the swift vengeance he wreaks upon the men who kidnapped his daughter. Not since 
John McLane met Hans Gruber at the Nakatome Towers during the holidays had we rooted so much for the hero.

But that was the original movie. The sequel (Taken 2) took us to Istanbul and as most sequels make you feel, you wanted to ask, 'whyyyyyy?'

So I entered the preview theater with fingers, eyes and toes crossed. Having read Pete Bradshaw's review had not helped...

But when the lights dimmed and I saw Liam Neeson buy a giant stuffed Panda for his daughter's birthday, I forgot everything else.

I will be the first one to admit that it is wholly predictable. The car chases, the guns and the bullets and the baddies falling like nine pins... You've seen it before. And I'm usually the first one to groan out loud. And then you wish Luc Besson had seen this wholly unrelated but appropriate poster.

A tired sequel is a pain to watch. But there's something so honest about the character of Bryan Mills that you are willing to give him a chance to beat up the baddies and save his family, one more time (Or have something other than the ghastly PK play the theatres).

Honestly, you could watch Liam Neeson assure his daughter, 'It's going to be okay.' on TV. and save your arteries from the multiplex samosa. But I like his vulnerability as a father and the assured violence as a protector on the big screen.

Doesn't help, eh?

Well, as they ask a reviewer, again and again, 'Kitne star diye?' before they book their tickets, my suggestion is to look at the stars in the movie. There is but one. He's Liam Neeson. And he's far easier on the eye than the goggle-eyed alien staring at you from the billboards.

One part of me hopes there won't be any more sequels of Taken. But there is that grandpappy role Liam Neeson would be just perfect for...