Though amusing, this addition is far too similar to “The Fugitive’s” Samuel Gerard (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and Bryan winds up becoming a correspondingly familiar fugitive himself (conducting “Mission: Impossible” endeavors to boot). His gang of ex-spooks is reassembled for a wider scope of duties (quite a few moments are made complex just to utilize unnecessary black ops stuff, including a poisoned yogurt concept that seems laughably unwarranted), catchphrases are awkwardly worked into the script, and Whitaker is employed as a determined detective, interested solely in apprehending Mills – guilty or innocent.

Also, Bryan never even leaves California. Surprisingly (and thankfully), no one gets kidnapped. Although the relationship problems with Lenore and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) aren’t unusual, the path the rest of the movie takes deviates greatly from the previous two chapters. It begins with villains doing villainous things, simply to establish what audiences can already assume about such thugs, before seguing into a rather extended focus on familial drama. Hunted by calculating police inspector Frank Dotzler (Forest Whitaker), the resourceful fugitive must elude both the police and deadly Russian assassins while attempting to piece together the clues that will lead him to the truth. When his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) is murdered – and he’s framed for the crime – Bryan is forced to go on the run. But that last part is an expected element – and some of the charm – of the genre.įormer government operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) must once again use his particular set of skills to contend with a deadly crisis. Meanwhile, distracting editing attempts to mask the lack of creativity in the action choreography, the antagonists go to unreasonable lengths to appear hardhearted, and the one-man-army protagonist can inexplicably survive any ordeal with barely a scratch. What could have been a revivifying direction for the series instead becomes a copycat of the common “wrong man” (or frame job) style of mystery, closely recalling 1993’s “The Fugitive.” At least, the creators have borrowed from one of the best.

However, rather than jumping into unexplored territory, the film retreads several other prominent action movie staples. Release Date: January 9th, 2015 MPAA Rating: PG-13ĭirector: Olivier Megaton Actors: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Forest Whitaker, Dougray Scott, Leland Orser “TĪken 3” wisely opts out of rehashing the kidnapping plotline of its predecessors.

Taken 3 rotten tomatoes