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Flash Movie Review: Taken 3
I am always available to hear a good story from someone. There is an art to telling a story. Essential components would be an attention grabbing opening, buildup on an emotional level, personal connection and a solid conclusion. If the story is a humorous one then there needs to be a good punchline. Unfortunately there are some people who should never tell a story. I know, I know; I feel bad for even saying that but if you listened to this person I know tell a story, you would see how they can suck the life out of any tale. The thing that is frustrating to me is their topics are actually interesting or funny. However, they not only have to explain every detail, they get hung up on trying to think of a perfect word to convey an action. You would be standing there shifting your weight from one foot to the other as they tried to think of the word they wanted to use, letting the momentum of their story fade to a crawl. By the end of the story, after they repeated several parts and explained the obvious parts to death, all you wanted to do was run away from them. This is how I felt as I sat through this 3rd film of the movie franchise. ACCUSED of a murder he did not commit Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson (A Walk Among the Tombstones, Non-Stop), became a wanted man. He would need his special skills to stay one step ahead of the authorities while he tried to figure out who was the murderer. Let me first say I totally appreciated the fact that Liam was keeping the aging action hero genre alive; I had no qualms with him or his performance. However, this story did not offer anything new for me. With the uneven directing I found the film editing absolutely annoying. I could not figure out who was throwing what punches because the scenes were horribly choppy. Besides returning characters Lenore St. John, played by Franke Janssen (X-Men franchise, The Chameleon) and Kim Mills, played by Maggie Grace (Lockout, Lost-TV); the addition of Franck Dotzier, played by Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Phone Booth) was a good choice. I only wished there had been more screen time between him and Liam. As for the plot I found it quite weak which only added to the messiness of this film. If one is in the mood for a good crime film, this one was not as exciting as the first one. The only thing I felt was taken during this movie was my time and money; I cannot recommend listening to this lame story. There were violent scenes with blood.
1 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Taken 2
I was glad my dad taught me how to drive the year before I was scheduled to take driver’s ed in high school. Only one day practicing in a parking lot before we headed out onto the streets. When I finally took class I was the brakeman for the car. There was a poor girl in my group who kept sideswiping the safety cones. The instructor made her walk the driving course using one of the cones as a steering wheel. In this movie I would like to know how the daughter Kim, played by Maggie Grace (Lockout, The Jane Austen Book Club) was able to drive a stolen car better than Jason Statham in his Transporter movies. She had flunked the driver’s test twice prior. This was just one of the ridiculous events that took place in this low minded sequel. On a business trip to Istanbul Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson (The Grey, Schindler’s List), was surprised when his daughter and ex-wife Lenore, played by Famke Janssen (X-Men franchise, The Treatment), showed up to visit. Kim hoped the time together would rekindle her parents’ love for each other. However, she was not aware of the plan in place, hatched by the father of one of her kidnappers in the previous movie. Murad Krasniqi, played by Rade Serbedzija (Shooter, In the Land of Milk and Honey), wanted to take revenge on Bryan and his family for the death of his son. The movie was a disappointment due to the weak script and silly action scenes. There was nothing original here and I found it amazing that Liam’s character was able to kill so many people without even getting grazed by a single bullet. The saving grace was Liam doing what he did best and that was act. At his age to be considered an action hero is an accomplishment. I only wish he would be more selective in his movie choices, because after seeing this film I feel I was taken. Violent scenes with blood.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Lockout
I am all for cutting corners where one can to save some money. In my heyday you should have seen my coupon prowess. But what was the studio thinking when they saw a script like this one which had Bruce Willis’ name written all over it? Maybe Bruce’s asking price was too high and the studio went instead for a discount. So they chose Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech, Traitor) to play the role of wrongly convicted, smart mouthed Snow. Not that Bruce has cornered the market on quick-witted, sarcastic retorts; but, I became bored early on with Guy’s attempts. Here is the story in a nutshell: Snow was offered his freedom if he would agree to rescue the President’s daughter Emilie Warnock, played by Maggie Grace (Taken, The Jane Austen Book Club), who was trapped inside an outer space prison, when overtaken by the prisoners. Granted, not the most original of ideas and the movie studio did not just stop there in their frugality. I found the special effects, for this day and age, lackluster and unexciting. The one object I found cool could be seen in the trailer–the space-aged motorcycle ridden by Guy Pearce. Okay, so it looked like a pimped out Bat-Pod. Remember, the producers were trying to save some change. As you may have gathered, I did not find too much to like in this movie. All I was hoping to accomplish was some space out time with a thrilling fun science fiction movie. Instead I felt a dose of reality as I watched this cheaply made movie that should have gone straight to DVD.
1 2/3 stars
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