Taken 3

There are 3 rules you have to know, if you meet Liam Neeson.

1. Never try and be cocky to him, if you do, you will end up in a body bag.
1. Never say anything about his latest haircut, if you do, that scissor will be in your eye within 5 seconds.
2. Most important of all, you never say the word :- Dansband, to him. If he hears this word, he will blow up an entire city, within just 2 minutes.

Great, now you know the most important steps into Not To Do With Liam Neeson, a great way to make sure everyone stays safe. Irish actor Liam Neeson is an icon, doing a lot of great motion pictures. Most people would probably say Schindler´s List, and there is a reason for that. It is one of the best films of director Steven Spielberg, and Liam Neeson was fantastic as Oskar Schindler. I think we have to mention his classic film Darkman, directed by Sam Raimi. Now this is an action film that really stood out of the genre, with a very dark twist. I would still say even today that this is one of the best action films of the 90´s, without explaining why. There are so many great characters that Liam have managed to make his own. The image of him might have changed, when he released an action film called Taken in 2008. Directed by Pierre Morel and produced by Luc Besson, this was an intensive action film, with lots of wonderful violence and guns, just like it should be. It became a huge box office hit worldwide, and Liam was back on top of most respected actors. Of course a sequel came out, 4 years later, simply called Taken 2. This became an even bigger box office hit than the first film. But to be honest i was not really impressed with the quality of the film. It had lots of action, but the characters did not feel very interesting this time, the acting had many problems, and most of all the tension that the first film had was not here. So here we are, with a third ( and said to be the last one ) film in the Taken series. When i found out that a thrid film was on the way, i was not really excited. Because i doubted that they would manage to find the same balance that the first film had. Still i decided to give it a chance, and i also like Liam Neeson as an actor. Is this thrid film finally a worthy sequel to the great first film, or is this another proof of why they should have made one only ?

Bryan Mills ( Liam Neeson ) goes to visit his daughter Kim Mills ( Maggie Grace ), to give her a gift. Just after the visit, Bryan gets a visit from his ex wife Lenore ( Famke Janssen ). She tells him that she have problems, in her relationship with her husband, Stuart St. John ( Dougray Scott ). Bryan can tell Leonore is still interested in him, but advice her that they should stay friends instead. Suddenly, Stuart comes to visit Bryan to stay away from his wife. Bryan promise to do so. The next day, Lenore texts Bryan to meet her at her home. Bryan decide to go, even if he knows that Stuart warned him. As he arrives, he finds Lenore dead, as the home is invaded by police officers, who think he is the murderer. Bryan manage to escape, and deliver the tragic news to his daughter Kim. He promise her that he did not do this, and will find out the truth. LAPD Inspector Franck Dotzler ( Forest Whitaker ) is on the case, trying to capture Bryan. But he does not know how profesional Bryan is, until he finds out his background. Meanwhile, Bryan recover surveillance footage from a convenience store , where Lenore being abducted by unidentified men. While trying to find more proof of who abducted and killed Lenore, Bryan is getting himself into more problems, as the truth is revealed.

Let´s get to the positive news first. Taken 3 is not as bad as Taken 2. Maybe because they at least tried to do something different this time to make it look more than last time. I can´t complain about Liam Neeson, he sure knows how to kick ass, and i would not want to mess with him. And now let´s talk about some problems. The story itself could have been interesting, since the plot is different from the previous 2 films, but somehow it feels quite too easy. The tension from the first film is not here, and the action scenes are not as well made as the first film was. Thankfully this is still not as bad as Taken 2. And that is thanks to Liam Neeson. Even if he is handling a script with flaws, he can at least try and make the best out of the situation. Forest Whitaker may not be as good as he can be in other films, but at least he gives this film some entertainment value. The chase on the murder suspect feels very simple, no surprising turns are waiting around the corner, and that is a detail that should have been there. Without Liam Neeson, this would have been nothing to remember, he is the reason why we enjoy seeing him kicking ass, and find different ways out of problems. Director Olivier Megaton did direct Taken 2, and with this third sequel he proves that he at least tried to do something different.. He have improved himself since last time, but not enough to make this worth watching. I prefer his action film Colombiana, a much more well made action thriller, with the very hot Zoe Saldana in the lead role. If you just want something to watch, Taken 3 is not the worst choice. But i can recommend many action films that are much better than this. All respect for Liam Neeson, but i hope this is his final Taken film. I think it is time he moves on and find an interesting character choice for his next film. Sometimes, you should not repeat yourself, even how much money you get paid for it.

Rating: DD