Taken 3

Every franchise has a particular life span.  A lot of it is dependent on consistency.  But a significant factor of longevity is also, "What is different this time around"? Taken 3 scores low on both counts.  The similarity ends with the characters from the Paris and Istanbul editions.

There is a significant departure from the basic premise. It is not a story of someone being kidnapped OR Taken to begin with. So it may as well have been called by another name like Non-Stop or Unknown or A Walk Among Tombstones. It is a genre of movies that has been formed over the past 5-6 years.  It is a genre called Liam Neeson.

The third and final installment (as the posters proclaim) finishes as a meek attempt to squeeze everything possible from the audience that had lapped up the earlier editions of this franchise.  Regrettably they do not get the formula right and have given it a less than memorable send off (provided they do not go back on their word).

Taken 3 gets off the blocks very slowly with Bryan Mills (Neeson) bringing a giant panda 🐼 as a birthday gift for his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). The Hindi music in the background seemed as out of place as the panda itself. Bryan's hope of surprising his daughter falls flat. He finds a shoulder in his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Jenssen) who is having some trouble with her marriage to Stuart St. John (Dougaray Scott).

In fact, Stuart goes onto ask Bryan to not speak to Lenore any more. Bryan obliges only to receive a message from Lenore the next morning to meet over bagels. The good ex-husband that Bryan is, he walks across to pick bagels only to return to Lenore's cold body with a slit throat. The chase then begins.

The slow build up is compensated with some great chases soon after. First on foot with some exhibition of Parkour thrown in for garnish (it has become mandatory these days).  It then moves onto a frenetic car chase on the freeway which is in typical Taken fashion.  But that’s all you will get to keep you happy.

There are some classy dialogues in between that keep the audience entertained.  Liam Neeson excels in the dialogue delivery but does look a tad jaded and probably bored of reprising the same role over and over again.  The support cast is as good as furniture.  Really nothing exciting in the acting department per se.

Oliver Megaton has great action flicks to his credit like Transporter 3, Colombiana and even Taken 2.  But even with such solid backing behind him, Megaton struggles to put up a respectable showing with Taken 3.  I think the franchise had just run out of steam.  Watchable on TV.  5 on 10.  Disappointing end to the series.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2340859673/?ref_=tt_ov_vi

The Bone Collector

Amongst the genre of Serial Killer movies, probably one of the top ranking movies would undeniable be The Bone Collector. And it could also rank at director Phillip Noyce’s best work over the 60 odd years that he has walked the earth and over the 40 odd years that he has been in the world of direction (Can you believe that? The man directed his first when he was 19???)

Taken 2

Taken was directed by Pierre Morel who had no experience with direction. But Morel was responsible for the cinematography of Transporter 1 and 2. The fetish of the producers of the franchise with Transporter stays. This time, they have taken to (all pun intended), the director of Transporter 3 – Olivier Megaton. The fact that both names – Pierre and Olivier – sound French, is not the only similarity I guess.

Olivier would have know for certain that he had big shoes to fill in when he picked up Taken 2. Taken was an absolutely edge of the seat drama that most of us would have enjoyed. So if Mr. Olivier had just stuck to the drama and the thrill that he is used to creating (Transporter 3, Colombiana), Taken 2 should have been a walk in the park. But I guess the expectation was too huge and it comes up just that bit short on Taken.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is back with his obsessively protective behavior – one really cannot blame him for that considering the events that took place in Paris not too long back. But Kim (Maggie Grace) is now nearing adulthood and already has a boyfriend Jamie (Luke Grimes). Much as Lenore (Famke Janssen) asks her ex-husband not to interfere, his natural self gets the better of Bryan.

Simultaneously, a bunch of Albanians led by Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija) is plotting revenge. Revenge on Bryan for killing Murad’s son – Marko – in Paris. And as the poster says very subtly – They picked the wrong guy to seek revenge. So the setting moves from Paris to the extremely rustic and beautiful Istanbul with loads of bylanes which form a luscious recipe for inch perfect car chases.

Taken 2 – as mentioned earlier & as the lady on the seat behind me in the theatre commented was definitely not as good as Taken 1. One of the several reasons could be the fact that it took a long while to get to the part of being “Taken”. Add to that, the aspect of age having caught up with Mr. Neeson dramatically over the past 2 years and the hand to hand combat sequences seemed distinctly slower than the previous occasion.

Taken 2 also had some finishing issues with some clear consistency errors. It just didn’t seem to fit as well. I also have a basic question related to physics. If sound takes 4 seconds to travel then @ 340 m/s the distance should be 1540 meters i.e. 1.5 kms right? Why the, does Bryan, ask Kim to draw a circle of 4.5 kms when tracking him down? Would love to understand that.

As such, Taken 2 is definitely worth a dekko and if you haven’t seen the first part then you will enjoy it. But overall, it comes up as a 6 on 10 in my books.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1529652505/

Taken

I saw Taken for the first time only about 2 years after its release. It was before I started blogging. And my inputs were restricted to a facebook post that I don’t quite remember. What I do remember is an edge of the seat drama that kept me glued to the screen and made me wish that I had an HD connection – the ads just ruined the stunning pace that the movie gets into within 15 minutes of the start and stays there all the way to the last frame. Truly a Thriller fan’s delight.

And as I had the good fortune of watching Taken a few minutes back on Star Movies (this time on HD), I kind of managed to put a finger on what is it that I missed in Taken 2 that prompted me to slot a score of only 6 on 10 for the sequel. One word – INTENSITY. The complete commitment that one can see in Liam Neeson’s eyes as the father who is desperate to get his daughter back from the clutches of a ruthless bunch of Albanians who are driving a flesh trade operation through Paris.

Unfortunately for the Albanians led by Marko (Arben Bajraktaraj), Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) turns out to be an exceptionally well trained and equally ruthless ex-CIA operative. And as he says in as many words when his daughter is kidnapped, “I don’t know who you are. But if you do not let my daughter go right now, I will find you. And I will kill you”. The manner in which Neeson tells Marko can be best described in 2 words – SPINE CHILLING. And that my friends was the missing ingredient in Taken 2.

Within 72 hours, using some of the most obvious techniques and common sensical methods – backed with an ice cold calm, Bryan goes through the task of tracking down his daughter and getting her back home safe and sound. He is definitely helped with some movie luck – dodging bullets and the likes. But any such instances are fleeting in nature and well edited.

There are very few consistency errors (if any). All members of the cast do their best despite the ominous presence of Neeson and one has to accept that this was a lead character movie all the way through. But the composure of the cast goes a long way in the making of the end product.

Taken is also crisply edited. The entire movie is under 90 minutes but does not compromise on any aspect whatsoever. Taken must be screened to as many movie makers in this part of the world as possible. Just to prove a point that “Less is indeed more”. 7 on 10 and put it on your must watch list for certain.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3488219417/