Taken 3

Taken 3

“Taken 3” is a victim of the previous part, from which the audience expected a lot (since the first part delighted the audience). If the second part hadn’t happened (which was quite disappointing after the standard the first part set), the third part of Bryan Mills’ adventures would certainly have fared much better with both audiences and critics.

Some time has passed since the unfortunate events in Istanbul. Bryan’s daughter, Kim, now lives with her boyfriend (incidentally she also finds out she’s pregnant, but isn’t ready to share that with the family, since she’s just started college, so it’s not quite an “ideal” moment), and his ex-wife, Lenore, still has a crisis in her marriage. However, it seems the friendship of former spouses is slowly rekindling the old flame of love, but they decided to put that “on hold” until Lenore clears up the situation with her (current) husband, Stuart.

However, one evening Stuart visits Bryan, and asks him not to communicate with Lenore for a while, because he wants the marriage between them to succeed, to which Bryan agrees. And yet another however, Lenore one day sends a message to Bryan that they urgently meet at his apartment, to talk about something important. Uh-oh!

However, that “uh-oh” turns into “ouch” for Bryan, because he finds Lenore dead in his apartment, and thirty seconds later, police break into his apartment. Bryan knows he didn’t kill his ex-wife and that someone “framed” him. And so he becomes a fugitive from the law. And on top of that, he has a quite unpleasant inspector on his heels, Frank Dotzler, an extremely meticulous and analytical man (with a mild OCD like Bryan).

However, this time, Bryan is in a really bad situation. The police are chasing him, he can’t communicate with his daughter, Stuart has hired security (and for some reason is very tense… much more than he should be), and suddenly the Russian mafia appears too.

Can Bryan save himself this time from an impossible situation? And does he really have no allies in anyone… or maybe his old crew can come to his aid? A pretty crazy ride awaits you in “Taken 3” (also known as “Tak3n”).

At first glance, the plot in “Taken 3” seems to unfold somewhat confusingly, because Bryan is being chased from all sides, but soon the puzzle pieces fall into place, hidden in some details (more precisely, in one person).

Bryan Mills is now older (logically), and because of the situation he finds himself in, as well as the limited resources available to him, his approach to solving challenges with his “very particular set of skills” must adapt. At first he “behaves” more like a ghost, tries to be inconspicuous (and he also gets help “from the side”), however (in the second half of the film), when he discovers who the real culprit is for his wife’s death (and that his daughter is in danger again), he becomes a quite aggressive beast who doesn’t choose means to eliminate opponents. And there are also more frequent car chase sequences.

The stars of the film (and to whom the most screen time is devoted) are, of course, Liam Neeson and Forest Whitaker (as the inspector who’s on the main hero’s heels). Factually speaking, with constant action and explosions, the acting of these two is what “saved” the third part and made it at least two notches better than the previous part. Maggie Grace also did a nice job and got (deservedly) a bit more screen time. The film villains are, honestly, quite generic and easily forgettable.

As I mentioned, there’s no shortage of tense action.

All in all, “Taken 3” is a solid film. Not good, just solid.

Now, if we wanted to look at the “Taken” series as a whole, what could we conclude?

The first part is, without comparison, an excellent action thriller. Despite a fairly simple plot, Liam Neeson’s acting skill and the very idea of a retired operative who possesses a “very particular set of skills” for solving problems, who will do everything to save his loved ones, resonated nicely with the audience. There was no shortage of action and drama. The first part set an excellent foundation for something that could have been a new action series that audiences would look forward to with each new installment (something that succeeded for Keanu Reeves with the excellent “John Wick” films)…

…except that on this foundation the second part of the series put quite poor material for the walls, which turned out quite ugly and crooked, relatively functional, but with poor insulation and poorly done plastering. Luc Besson and the new director quite weakened (not to say botched) the plot and made it really unoriginal, and the filming approach in many scenes didn’t prove to be the luckiest either…

…and then they tried to put a better quality roof (“Taken 3”). However, both the workers and the neighbors in the village were so disappointed by the previous work, that even the roof now seems uglier and less quality to them than it really is. The change in plot approach (conspiracy, chase and betrayal) and greater emphasis on espionage and car chases, adding another “layer” of humanity to Bryan Mills (in the occasional sarcastically-witty comment) did improve the situation, but the damage from the previous part left considerable consequences.

Realistically, I get the impression that “Taken 3” would have fared much better with both audiences and critics if “Taken 2” hadn’t happened. “Taken 2,” in my opinion, should have had a plot that concerned, for example, the kidnapping of a client, a visit from an “old friend” who blackmails Bryan to carry out some crazy task for him, or something third, to break the cliché plot or something similar.

And like this…

To summarize, the first “Taken” is something that should be watched, and even if you stop only at this part, you won’t lose anything, because it’s a complete whole in itself. And as for the remaining two parts, if you’re an action lover, a Liam Neeson fan, or simply want to see the main hero’s family relationships a bit more deepened, just continue watching.

What is a fact is that there will remain regret that this series about the former “Green Beret” and CIA operative, Bryan Mills, a man with a “very particular set of skills” and one of the best sentences (okay, paragraphs) in the film world, wasn’t allowed to show its full potential.

And there was potential…

And you, dear reader, what are your impressions of this trilogy? 🙂

Trailer

IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic

Format: Film

Premiere: 2014

Duration: 115 minutes