Review: TAK3N

The Taken (now a) Trilogy, has had its ups and downs – the first film a modern action classic with tones of Death Wish and a dash of Commando. You had epic strong, gut wrenching action thriller with at its core a fathers love – a father who happens to be Bryan Mills, a ex CIA black ops agent! Handy !

The first film was a sleeper hit – that ignited what was missing from modern action – a believable hero, a plot and jeopardy.

The follow up, Taken 2 was a straight forward sequel – with some week plot ideas but all in all an enjoyable romp of a sequel – which at its core was a revenge film. Those Mills killed to get his daughter back – well there family come for blood.

Now we come to the tough job of making a third film – when realistic the second film – felt like a part 2 of a two part story, if film one was taken action, film two was the consequences of those actions Mills took. So where does the Taken story go from there ?

Well thankfully – no one is taken, and Mills doesn't have to get them back or its not tied directly to the events of the first film. Taken 3 is only linked to the other films by the characters and the name itself. Which is great start.

The film is unlike the other two set completely in Los Angeles – given this third film a fresh feel visually as the others were set in Paris and Budapest. Not a spoiler the plot revolves around Mills framed for the murder of his Ex wife once again played by Famke Janssen. This is a Taken meets the fugitive story. Not very original but if you enjoyed the original Taken you will go along with the ride.

Neeson is good in the role now owned by him, cold, professional warrior and the front folds when he's with his daughter and the grieve shines through. Forrest Whitaker here in a supporting role as the Police Inspector who is after him – he gives a quirky character that could of early just played straight. Also its great to have in this third instalment – Mills' old Ex CIA friends helping him as a team.

The good – strong performances by Neeson, Whittaker's quirky police officer, Maggie Grace as long suffering Daughter! The premise serves well as a final chapter – please be a final chapter!

The bad – the sound mix is terrible – I only hope this gets sorted in time for home release. The 12a rating – again, tired of cutting away from action and having to deal with a watered down follow up to a Cert 18 original film! The villains of this film are card board cut outs and the recasting of the step father Stuart from original actor in Taken Xander Berkeley to the miss-casting of Dougray Scott! Who yes is a good actor but here he's a plate of smoked ham!

All in all enjoyable action film – does what it says on the tin. Taken 3 – don't expect the glory of the original – expect the same level as part 2. This is what it is – another adventure with Mills a great action character and Liam Neeson doing a sterling job. It isn't as bad as the press are slating it, it is fun and gives us a final curtain bow to a great character and a trilogy to enjoy. But lets leave this alone now.

Rhys 3 out of 5

Review: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (UK Cert 15)

Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters. The title tells you all you need to know. It's one of those does-what-it-says-on-the-tin titles (a bit like Snakes On A Plane or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). 

It starts just the same as the Brothers Grimm fairytale it rips off. As children, Hansel and Gretel are left in the wood by their father and can't find their way home. They find a gingerbread house and a witch who lures them in to fatten them up to eat. They turn the tables and kill the witch. The witch-hunting then becomes their career. As adults (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton), they're asked to find the witch who is stealing children away from a small village. However, what they uncover is no simple abduction- the powerful witch Muriel (Famke Janssen) has a plan to make all witches fire-proof. But first they just need one last ingredient- the heart of a Grand White Witch.

It's difficult to know where exactly to begin. Actually, no, it isn't. Tommy Wirkola, the writer and director of this unadulterated piece of tripe, should never be allowed to even write a shopping list again if this is the best he can come up with. What's worse, a studio actually GREENLIT this. Someone actually heard this idea and thought 'That'll make a good movie! Here, have lots of money'.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who thinks that all cinema has to be art, or that every screenplay ever written has to be award-worthy. I'll happily sit through a blockbuster as much as an arthouse flick. But what I do ask is that the script is entertaining, doesn't rely on overworn cliches and generally has more substance than a one-line title pitch. 

All the usual tropes are used- distrustful townsfolk, a white witch in hiding, painful revelations about the main characters' past- and none to any surprising or entertaining effect. The script is uneven and utterly predictable: when one particular character dies at the hands of the witch, they ask Hansel to do something for them. Jokingly, I said 'kill the f****** b****'. Guess what? That's exactly what they said. Lazy and not that funny. 

Another issue I have is the portrayal of the central female character. Gretel is painted as a kick-ass no-nonsense action heroine, but for a kick-ass no-nonsense action heroine, she sure is put in situations where she has to be saved by a man an awful lot, the most distasteful of which is a potential rape by the boorish sheriff (Peter Stormare). When you consider that the whole point of the historic anti-witchcraft trials was the degradation of women who didn't toe the line, it's unsurprising to find a virulent strain of misogyny shot through the film, which I found unpleasant.

Both Renner and Arterton are better actors than this. So is Famke Janssen for that matter, who sadly relies on slicing the ham quite thick. But that's down to how she's been directed. Some of the make-up looks cheap and shoddy, some of the visual effects were just dreadful and- once again- you could tell which bits were added in for the 3D cinema release.

Am I overthinking things? Maybe. Am I asking too much of a film with a title as blatant as Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters? Probably. I'm sure there are people who enjoyed this and could let it wash over them without too much fuss, a film as insubstantial as candyfloss and forgotten as soon as they walked out of the cinema. Sadly I'm not one of those people and the film quickly passed from so-bad-it's-actually-good to just bad.

What stops this from being a zero-star review? Not much, to be honest. I liked maybe one or two ideas (Hansel being diabetic due to eating too much candy as a child, for instance) but the rest is just woeful. Avoid.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Tez

Review: Taken 2 (UK Cert: 12A)

Every now and then, a film comes along and grabs movie fans by the throat and we all take attention. These films are, in the most, original or more than often take something and make it their own. Taken was a great example of the latter: a backpacking young American girl is taken by a group of men in Europe; what they didn’t expect was her father- Bryan Mills- is a man with a ‘certain set of skills’. Those skills are from years as a CIA operative. The original was a breath of fresh air – it wasn’t original in any way (for example, this story was made in the 1980s with Schwarzenegger in Commando) but what made the film amazing was Liam Neeson’s performance as Mills- a man who would do anything to get his daughter back: kill, torture and maim – nothing got in his way.

The first film was what we like to call a “surprise hit” and rumours of a sequel ran for some time – then it happened and now it’s on release. The trouble with following up such a story is: what do you do?  Do you follow up that story with all the characters or do you follow up on the character? Taken 2 does a brave move and not only follows up on where all the characters are from the first film – what it does is the very wise thing. Taken 2 should be called Taken: Part 2.

The film picks up a little after the last film. The people Mills killed- the ones who kidnapped his daughter- well, their families are seeking revenge. They’ve been waiting for an opportunity and they track down the family on a holiday in Istanbul, where Mills has been working. They take Mills and his ex-wife hostage while the daughter helps them from afar – via phone calls with Mills.

Does it live up to the first film? No. But, as a follow up, as a part 2 – this film delivers. What it fails on is at no point did I feel jeopardy for the characters or did I get the same gut feeling I did when I watched the first – when I watched the first film, I was cheering Neeson on - here, it lacks some punch.  Neeson gives a great performance of Mills – he delivers just what you want: a tough but very intelligent hero, always one step ahead and prepared. Famke Janssen makes a larger role here as Mrs Mills and Maggie Grace is great again as their daughter.

The events of the film unfold and we’re taken along for the ride. Unfortunately the film doesn’t have the edge that the original had – the original had a dark tone (maybe because of the sex slave trade subject matter?) All in all, if you loved the first you will enjoy this – as long as you go in knowing it isn’t the first film, but it is a fun filled part 2.  However, it is up there with some of the best sequels

Rating: 3 out 5

Rhys