He has a lot of enemies
Bakang Israel | Friday January 23, 2015 17:24
The evergreen action figure is back again on the big screen and brought more enemies along in 2015.
One of the most hardworking Hollywood stars who releases at least a new film each year is back in this third and final instalment of the blockbuster franchise, Taken 3.
He is quite a high profile actor, whatever he stars in turns to gold.
Many will perhaps remember him in films such as The A-Team, Taken 1, 2 and Non Stop. In this film he stars alongside a capable man in the Oscar award winning, Forest Whitaker (Franck Dotzler) the L.A. PD Inspector on his tale. Whitaker also excels in this role, as he did before in films like Phone Booth (2002) and The Last Stand (2013) respectively.
Neeson still plays the role of Bryan Mills, a retired special forces operative.
This time the above mentioned actors are seemingly chasing shadows in a murder case and Stuart (Dougray Scott) enjoys this cat and mouse game as he plays the villain.
French director Olivier Megaton, the same filmmaker who gave us amongst others Taken 2, Transporter 3 and the mind-blowing Columbiana starring Zoe Saldana, brought these actors together.
He is brilliant at directing thrillers.
Taken 3 has maintained the reputation set forth by the previous two editions. This is duly because of the fact that the plot continues from where the other films left off.
What basically happens in Taken 3 is as a former operative Mills is accused of the ruthless murder of his ex-wife, which he neither committed nor witnessed.
L.A PD Inspector Franck Dotzler, who quickly becomes familiar with Mills’ unique background, heads the manhunt to capture Mills. During his fugitive run, Mills brings out his Special Forces and intelligence set of skills to find the true killer and clear his name.
What you will love about this movie is it is filled with all the ingredients of an exciting action movie. Mills, framed for murder he did not commit, tears the city apart to find the actual culprit.
The highlight scenes include the police car chase; Mills starts off handcuffed at the back seat of a police car, but in a split second he is leading the road rage in a police vehicle, causing mayhem for oncoming traffic.
LA PD Detective/Inspector Franck Dotzler (played by Forest Whitaker) adds a spark to the film, with his exquisite tracking skills.
Whitaker is such a thrilling actor to watch with his never say die attitude.
It is only during the last 10 minutes that the pieces of the puzzle fall into place; that is when we get to see exactly who the real murderer is, after all the relentless pursuit.
The movie has a good ending with Stuart arrested.
Overall, Taken 3 is a sheer 1 hour 49 minutes of viewing pleasure. An interesting quote by the devious Stuart shows the movie’s violent nature when he says: “He (Mills) has a lot of enemies, the world he lives in is so dangerous”.
Box office reception and the attention this movie is getting from movie enthusiasts across the globe, indicate a positive welcome.
Taken 3 is on its second week worldwide and it premiered at the number one spot on the box office’s hot 100 movies on its opening weekend (January 9-11).
The movie, however, has fallen to the forth spot. With only two weeks on the market, Taken 3 has pocketed US$66 million. I rate this movie a nine out of 10. It is a good way to rekindle the big screen experience for those who have not been there this year.
Movie: Taken 3
Genre: Action, Thriller
Duration: 1 hour 49 mins
Age Restriction: 13
Release Date: January 16, 2015
Director: Olivier Megaton
Main Cast: Liam Neeson as (Bryan Mills), Forest Whitaker
(Franck Dotzler), Famke Janssen (Lenore St. John), Maggie Grace (Kim Mills) and Dougray Scott (Stuart St John)