Taken 3 (2014)

Directed by Olivier Megaton. Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Forest Whitaker, Dougray Scott, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Washofsky, Sam Spruell, Famke Janssen, Jonny Weston. [PG-13]

Liam Neeson and his particular set of skills are plunged once again into the thick of it when he loses someone close to him, gets framed for the murder, and has to take it on the run while figuring out who’s responsible. Not much “taking” in this one (the daughter is again sorta kidnapped during the last act, but the way it’s handled is no different than a hundred other action movies where the hero has to deal with bad guys getting their mitts on a loved one), and not much reason to tune in, either. Neeson does what he does, brand-recognition-style, the villains are as one-note as they are unsurprising (if you don’t immediately know who’s responsible for the murder, good luck at preschool next year, little toddler), and there’s no reason for Forest Whitaker’s detective to even be in this movie other than padding and getting another recognizable name/face for marketing purposes. Features the dumbest (i.e., funniest) stunt of the series on an airplane runway, but you must ask yourself whether it’s better to be spoon-fed the forced rehash of Taken 2 or accept the banal formula of Taken 3—no one’s a winner, but I guess I slightly prefer the latter, even though there’s nothing in the script as compelling as watching the fifteen camera cuts needed to get Neeson to jump over a fence or the twelve cuts needed to get him out of a window. Dougray Scott takes over for Xander Berkeley as Neeson’s ex-wife’s estranged husband, and David Warshofsky returns as one of Neeson’s old cohorts after sitting out Taken 2.

33/100