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ABDUCTION

With a few notable exceptions such as “Drive”, almost every action movie looks and feels the same these days. You either get a Jason Bourne clone or a James Bond clone, and none are particularly good. So, after watching this, I found myself cringing at its awful, cliché dialogue, sub-par looking action sequences, by the numbers plot and excruciatingly painful acting from newcomer Taylor Lautner, who, for some odd reason, was chosen to headline this big budget blockbuster. My disdain for “Twilight” aside, I decided to watch the film because I’m a fan of director John Singleton’s past work. I commend the satisfactory action scenes, which minimised the kind of close-up, rapid camera movement that has drawn the bulk of my ire in recent months. Also, I was pleased to see the film show a bit of gumption by avoiding an entirely happy, alls-well-that-ends-well conclusion, but these upsides are not enough to sweeten what is otherwise an inherently flawed film. Not really worth watching.

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