Bryan Mills returns with his particular set of skills, for the third time.

 

'Taken 3', or 'TAK3N' from the film's marketing, is the third, and questionable final, chapter in the popular 'Taken' franchise. I have not seen the first two 'Taken' films, but heard about the concept of the films, and with my friend who has seen the first two, I was briefed on what happened before this new film, although this film does act as a stand-alone film in this popular set of films.

 

'Taken 3' is about Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) who is the leading suspect of his ex-wife's death. The film becomes a fugitive running from the cops type of film. While the concept of the film sounds intriguing, the film isn't.

 

With lazy writing, the film suffers on terrible dialogue and a sluggish flow of the film's overall narrative structure. With the film's long middle act, most of those scenes end up feeling like filler for the most part, as the film came to a complete stop for about half-an-hour with the cops trying to find Bryan Mills, which in my opinion, came off as repetitive.

 

Also, the film's direction, mainly the action scenes, are quite appalling due to the constant use of shaky cam and quick editing of close-ups of the action, which made it confusing on what was happening on the screen. I didn't blink during these action scenes, as I thought if I blinked, I would have missed what was happening on screen and be even more confused, which sucked the enjoyment out of this film.

 

Overall, 'Taken 3' does offer action, but the film's execution of the action is appalling with rapid quick shots which become irritating to watch, to say the least, and the story being flat, predictable and overlong.

 

Bagels anyone?

 

Score: 1.8/10

Published: January 26th, 2015