Taken 3 couldn’t be any weaker or any more of an unfunny, time wasting joke if its final scene ended with a thunderous fart noise. It doesn't give a damn about filmmaking or giving a paying audience a decent action movie.
Somewhere between the near middle aged malaise of The Big Chill and the twentysomething malaise of St. Elmo’s Fire lies About Alex, a mostly forgettable film about estrangedfriends coming back together to help a buddy in need while learning important life lessons in the process.
Looking to shake the early winter doldrums? Before you head out or order in a movie out on DVD this week, take a look at our eclectic line-up of reviews including the action of Taken 2 and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, the martial arts mayhem of Swords of Dragons Gate, the drama of Won't Back Down, the visual splendour of Samsara, and the return of Woody Allen in To Rome with Love.
While the first Taken was a dirty revenge movie with a moral compass skewed beyond anything expected from Hollywood, Taken 2 is a more sanitized action feature that’s pleasures appeal primarily to those who love laughing themselves silly at the most ridiculous action fluff. Both are guilty pleasures, but this one is a little more difficult to defend. It’s not really a good movie in a traditional sense, yet it is far from boring and without trying has become the funniest action movie of the year.
While it never quite lives up to its hype as being an exact clone Escape from New York in space, Lockout manages some moments of cheesy fun and some decent action sequences.