Taken (2008) and the Taken Franchise

It seems to me that there have been real problems stretching this franchise out. The vengeance plot of Taken 2 came across to me as a bit of a stretch but at least it had the location going for it, as well as involving Kim in Bryan's activities. This film has by far the flimsiest story and the worst adversaries. Sam Spruell is pretty familiar, especially from Defiance (2008), but I didn't feel he was very convincing here. Far more awkward is Dougray Scott because he's taking over Xander Berkeley's role in the original film, there quite inconsequential and here retooled into a criminal mastermind. I knew that Scott must have been cast to do more than be the gooseberry in Lenore and Bryan's relationship and in the event he was, but somehow it doesn't wash, which oddly enough it might have had the more innocuous Berkeley reprised the role.

I've noticed that the action and direction of Taken 3 has been criticised and I certainly felt both were incredibly disappointing. The display of Bryan's skills is peculiarly kept to a minimum and also it sometimes seems as though we're too close to the action, human and on a larger scale, with it being hard to follow. The script is also pretty ghastly at times – I mean who says "I was just preparing dinner"?

One thing I did find a cut above was Forest Whitaker's behaviour as Dotzler, which was akin to Denzel Washington's character work for The Equalizer. I haven't worked out why Dotzler carries a wooden knight chesspiece but the elastic band seemed to make sense at the very end. I'm guessing that Dotzler wears one around his wrist for every new case, and then, upon the close of said case, annotates the same band and puts it round the case file, symbolically ending his connection. I loved it when he masochistically flicked it back on his hand, agitated that Kim had exposed the use of a listening device.

Taken 3, like 2, reminded me how superior the original film was. Actually it's funny how the thing that matters most to Bryan, his daughter, has always mattered the most for this viewer, especially due to Maggie Grace's performance. Lenore, Stuart, and Bryan's colleagues have always been a vague, thinly-drawn bunch and that was the same here. I'm convinced that more could have been done with the franchise if they'd departed from the kidnap plot of the original instead of trying to recycle it each time.

I rated it 6/10 mainly because, as with the Transporter films, there's a facile quality that's expected and sometimes welcome! I definitely thought that Olivier Megaton made a better film with Taken 2 and also The Transporter 3.

It seems to me that there have been real problems stretching this franchise out. The vengeance plot of Taken 2 came across to me as a bit of a stretch but at least it had the location going for it, as well as involving Kim in Bryan's activities. This film has by far the flimsiest story and the worst adversaries. Sam Spruell is pretty familiar, especially from Defiance (2008), but I didn't feel he was very convincing here. Far more awkward is Dougray Scott because he's taking over Xander Berkeley's role in the original film, there quite inconsequential and here retooled into a criminal mastermind. I knew that Scott must have been cast to do more than be the gooseberry in Lenore and Bryan's relationship and in the event he was, but somehow it doesn't wash, which oddly enough it might have had the more innocuous Berkeley reprised the role.

I've noticed that the action and direction of Taken 3 has been criticised and I certainly felt both were incredibly disappointing. The display of Bryan's skills is peculiarly kept to a minimum and also it sometimes seems as though we're too close to the action, human and on a larger scale, with it being hard to follow. The script is also pretty ghastly at times – I mean who says "I was just preparing dinner"?

One thing I did find a cut above was Forest Whitaker's behaviour as Dotzler, which was akin to Denzel Washington's character work for The Equalizer. I haven't worked out why Dotzler carries a wooden knight chesspiece but the elastic band seemed to make sense at the very end. I'm guessing that Dotzler wears one around his wrist for every new case, and then, upon the close of said case, annotates the same band and puts it round the case file, symbolically ending his connection. I loved it when he masochistically flicked it back on his hand, agitated that Kim had exposed the use of a listening device.

Taken 3, like 2, reminded me how superior the original film was. Actually it's funny how the thing that matters most to Bryan, his daughter, has always mattered the most for this viewer, especially due to Maggie Grace's performance. Lenore, Stuart, and Bryan's colleagues have always been a vague, thinly-drawn bunch and that was the same here. I'm convinced that more could have been done with the franchise if they'd departed from the kidnap plot of the original instead of trying to recycle it each time.

I rated it 6/10 mainly because, as with the Transporter films, there's a facile quality that's expected and sometimes welcome! I definitely thought that Olivier Megaton made a better film with Taken 2 and also The Transporter 3.