Taken 3

I am curious what Olivier Megaton promises to Luc Besson for being able to film movies based on his screenplays and for his money. I would, at best, give Megaton a samurai sword so that he could do seppuku in front of me, so he would cut his stomach into pieces and I could watch it with joy. If any director is a dabbler, it is Megaton. And it is funny that that isn’t his name, but his nickname. Probably so it would be obvious that he makes ultra shit action movies. So, in no way did Taken 3 disappoint. It is just as dumb as the second installment. The action is impetuous, crazy. Thanks to the editing, you cannot see anything. I am curious how Megaton would handle, for example, Steven Seagal, who also works with pretty shit directors, but they at least edit one of his action scenes per movie in a way that you cannot see even a gram of fat. Here, the action is directed and edited in a way that prevents you from seeing anything. (25.05.2016)

Roughly the same nonsense as the second film. The charm of old-school crime and action films of the first film is irretrievably gone, as is the quality of the physical action. Olivier Megaton tries to imitate Michael Bay in some scenes and shots (massive destruction, over the top airplane vs Porsche), but he only succeeds halfway. It must also be noted that in the first half an hour, it is so confusing and poorly edited that it will give a headache to every other lover of action scenes. The second half is more satisfying, but still painfully below average. (01.02.2015)

A really, really, really bad action movie that lacks the most important thing - action. Well, it's actually in it, but the director is a loser, he couldn't film it and apparently - just like in 2012 - he thought he could cover up the lack of ideas with some kind of fake predation and frenzy, which is provided by absolutely insane editing and lack of clarity. Only this time it was even worse. This time, even the story is just plain stupid, it's a common B-movie variation on The Fugitive, which really didn't deserve an actor of Liam Neeson's caliber, and you can't help but shake your head at the main character's actions. Yuck. (24.10.2015)

Taken set the bar very high, it is a cult-classic in the action genre, the film has no negative opponents, which can be said about few films. Taken 2 suffered from the change to a clumsy director that turned an intelligent action flick into a B-movie, but ut was still quite entertaining. Taken 3, sorry Parkinson 3, it’s a thriller rather, because action-wise the film trips over its own feet. I have to admit though it's very sad that I didn't enjoy any of the action, everything is so insanely edited and frantic that you can't see a fucking thing, in fact you just hear the punches rather than see them (as a fan of Korean action movies, I won't tolerate this from the Yanks). And it's not just the action, there are a lot of unnecessary and long shots into the void, well the Olivier Megaton shouldn’t be behind the camera. Now that I've vomited up the aftertaste of the negatives and it's time for the praise. What the film has benefited greatly is Forest Whitaker, the guy literally shines as the cunning cop and you can tell he's enjoying his role to the hilt. Thankfully, there are some interesting and intelligent flourishes and the solid pacing persists here too, which is a pleasure, this is what this franchise is mostly built on, so as far as the script is concerned, it's very satisfying, it could be compared to the recent The Equalizer, but that had talent in the director’s chair, something Taken 3 is sorely lacking. The PG-13 rating also spoils the impression. 60%. (17.01.2015)

This is just bad. It’s no great surprise that the screenplay is like an action version of a Mexican telenovela. But the fact that the action is terribly filmed is a great disappointment. Megaton buries everything in confusion and is excessively over-the-top. When you compare this to Morel’s action scenes, it brings tears to your eyes. Is it really too much to expect to see Neeson shooting and torturing people in a simple, yet meaningful story revolving around well-produced action scenes? P.S: It still bothers me that I don’t understand why Forest carries that chess piece around with him all the time… (30.01.2020)