Nearly seven years after the first film became a surprise hit, we are onto the second Taken sequel. While the story lines might be getting thinner, the fun and excitement is still there, for the most part. The film is certainly not the best of the series, but in my opinion it is a step up from Taken 2. The Following is my review of Taken 3.
Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen are both back for this sequel. Both of these writers also wrote the first and second films of this series. While no one is actually Taken in this film, all the characters we are use to seeing are back. This time around Bryan Mills(Liam Neeson) is accused of murdering his ex-wife, and of course he will not stop until he finds out who set him up. The story is actually pretty good and with some fabulous acting the down time early in the film moves by nicely. The film also features some nice plot twists that add an element that usually is not in these Taken films. While I must admit the ideas are getting old, the execution here is overall very good. Besson and Kaem do another good job of writing a Taken film.
The film was directed by Olivier Megaton, who also directed Taken 2. His shooting style of somewhat shaky camera nature is off putting though. The bigger action scenes with the car chases just don't look that well in motion, and this time around it seems they used some extra CG to scale down the budget. This makes for less beautiful action sequences. The hand to hand combat action scenes though are shot amazingly and are a big highlight of the film. As I mentioned above the film is slow in spots, but that slowdown is at the beginning of the film as they are building up the story. With fantastic actors like Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Leland Orser, and many others, the acting aspects of the film really hold the film together. Overall, Megaton does a good job on this film, but the bigger action sequences just don't look as well as they have in the past.
The film was composed by Nathaniel Mechaly who has scored all of the Taken films. His work in this film is actually very good. A nice step up from the score in the previous Taken film. When the action hits so does this score. It really draws you into the film in ways films in this general generally don't. The depth on this score by Mechaly is great and really a fun score all around.
In closing, this Taken film was billed as the final film of the franchise, but I highly doubt this series will end now. As long as there is money to be made, and as long as Liam Neeson wants to keep making them, they will likely keep milking this series. The film is not bad, and while it is not the best of the series and the ideas are getting worse, this film in my opinion is better than Taken 2. Fans of the series, like myself, will ignore the critics trashing this film and go see it anyway. Frankly, this is the best idea. The major critics always love trashing films like this, so their opinions are useless. The film is a good fun adventure and is well worth the price of admission.
7.4/10
Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen are both back for this sequel. Both of these writers also wrote the first and second films of this series. While no one is actually Taken in this film, all the characters we are use to seeing are back. This time around Bryan Mills(Liam Neeson) is accused of murdering his ex-wife, and of course he will not stop until he finds out who set him up. The story is actually pretty good and with some fabulous acting the down time early in the film moves by nicely. The film also features some nice plot twists that add an element that usually is not in these Taken films. While I must admit the ideas are getting old, the execution here is overall very good. Besson and Kaem do another good job of writing a Taken film.
The film was directed by Olivier Megaton, who also directed Taken 2. His shooting style of somewhat shaky camera nature is off putting though. The bigger action scenes with the car chases just don't look that well in motion, and this time around it seems they used some extra CG to scale down the budget. This makes for less beautiful action sequences. The hand to hand combat action scenes though are shot amazingly and are a big highlight of the film. As I mentioned above the film is slow in spots, but that slowdown is at the beginning of the film as they are building up the story. With fantastic actors like Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Leland Orser, and many others, the acting aspects of the film really hold the film together. Overall, Megaton does a good job on this film, but the bigger action sequences just don't look as well as they have in the past.
The film was composed by Nathaniel Mechaly who has scored all of the Taken films. His work in this film is actually very good. A nice step up from the score in the previous Taken film. When the action hits so does this score. It really draws you into the film in ways films in this general generally don't. The depth on this score by Mechaly is great and really a fun score all around.
In closing, this Taken film was billed as the final film of the franchise, but I highly doubt this series will end now. As long as there is money to be made, and as long as Liam Neeson wants to keep making them, they will likely keep milking this series. The film is not bad, and while it is not the best of the series and the ideas are getting worse, this film in my opinion is better than Taken 2. Fans of the series, like myself, will ignore the critics trashing this film and go see it anyway. Frankly, this is the best idea. The major critics always love trashing films like this, so their opinions are useless. The film is a good fun adventure and is well worth the price of admission.
7.4/10