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Abduction, a review by Dragonfire

Abduction

I haven't been that impressed with Taylor Lautner, though the only movies I'd seen him in were Twilight and New Moon.  I've sort of given him the benefit of the doubt since he's still young and he hasn't exactly how good material to work with.  I thought his new movie Abduction looked interesting when I saw the trailer.  I ended up having the chance to see it and I went.

I thought the plot had potential, but the movie never really meets that potential.  The pacing is uneven and too many parts drag on longer than needed.  The movie isn't that long, and it really takes a bit too long to set things up.  Once things do start happening, there are plot holes big enough to drive a truck through and Nathan - Lautner's character - keeps doing stupid stuff.  Nathan is still in high school, yet at one point, he is able to fight off a hired killer all by himself.  Yes Nathan is on the wrestling team and his dad taught him to fight, but it still is stretching things that he could do that, especially when the bad guy had a gun.  It just isn't believable that the bad guy wouldn't start shooting.  Nathan gets beat up kind of bad, but he never has any injuries.  Karen, the girl that Nathan has a crush on, ends up on the run with him.  She gets hit, but also no injuries.  After it is clear that his calls are being traced - and Nathan should have realized this when he kept ending up talking to the CIA - he was able to call a friend from school and meet him twice without anyone finding out.  Never mind how in the world a call made from a pay phone in a hospital ended up at the CIA instead of the 911 dispatcher.  It was ridiculous.  Nathan and Karen know they are in danger and bad people are after them, yet at one point, they are just walking down the side of a road in broad daylight with no attempt at disguises.  There are a few fight scenes, but they are rather cheesy.  There is very little mystery or suspense, though I think the movie was intended to be more suspenseful.  Nathan and Karen take time to make out at one point and then they just stop because they decide they need to get something to eat. 

None of the characters are that developed and most of the acting isn't that impressive.  There are a few good actors in the movie that do ok with their small parts.  The movie is riding on Lautner, and ...well...he doesn't have the acting ability to carry anything, let alone a whole movie.  He wasn't as broody and mopey as he was in the Twilight movies, but he had the same expression on his face most of the time.  Pretty much no matter what was happening, he had the same expression on his face..sort of a cross between being ticked off and constipated.  Lautner does seem to be trying to move beyond the Twilight movies, but he still has a way to go. 

The movie isn't completely horrible, but it has several issues and there isn't anything really good about it.  There is no need to rush out to see it.  Lautner's giggling teeny bopper girl fans may go see this just because he's in it, but most of them probably will end up disappointed.



I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Abduction


(From Abduction on October 6th, 2011)

Blitz, a review by GSyren

Title	Blitz
Year	2010
Director	Elliott Lester
Stars	Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen, Zawe Ashton, David Morrissey
Overview	Uncompromising and utterly un-PC cop Brant (Jason Statham - The Expendables) is teamed up with an unlikely partner in Sgt Porter Nash (Paddy Considine - The Bourne Ultimatum) as they hunt down vigilante cop killer Barry Weiss (Aidan Gillen - The Wire). Time is running out for the next victims in line, as Brant combs the streets of London for the unrelenting and merciless Weiss. Also starring David Morrissey (Red Riding) as the hack journalist who bites off more than he can chew. This gripping thriller is from a screenplay by Nathan Parker (writer of Moon) and based on the best selling novel by acclaimed crime writer Ken Bruen.
My thoughts	Jason Statham will never win an Oscar. But he's fun to watch if you like action movies. The problem here is that there isn't that much action. There is some bloodshed, and sure, Statham kicks some ass, but not a whole lot of action otherwise. On the plus side, there is the nice photography. Nice London locations that doesn't use a lot of tourist spots that we've seen meny times before. Paddy Considine is good as a gay cop, and Aidan Gillen plays a cop-killer psycho quite well. (click to show/hide) I'm not quite comfortable with the notion of a vigilante cop who kills a defenceless bad guy because there is not enough evidence to convict him in court. There's a good reason why most civilized countries have abandoned the death penalty, and I don't like it when a film makes a hero out of a cop (or anyone) who acts as judge, jury and executioner. You can say "It's just a film", but showing violance is one thing, condoning it is another, and even though it may not affect you or me, I'm sure that there are other more impressionable minds who may think that it's ok in real life as well. With that caveat, Blitz is still an entertaining movie.
Rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on May 1st, 2013)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Criminal Minds: The First Season

Extreme Aggressor
After a fourth woman goes missing in Seattle in a period of four months, the BAU is brought in to track down the abductor before he kidnaps again. Meanwhile, SSA Aaron Hotchner is asked to evaluate SSA Jason Gideon secretly to determine if he is really ready to work full-time again after returning from a six-month leave of absence.




Criminal Minds revolves around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again.

Disappointing pilot episode, the coincidentalness of the plot and its solving was just too much to swallow, if it were really that easy the FBI would be catching serial killers every 5 minutes.
Similar in an inferior way to CSI, the 1st episode lacks the disturbing punch I have read follows in later episodes, where of course a different story is told each time. I didn't warm to the actor who plays the lead Gideon, and the remainder of the cast I felt were banal and wooden.
Will persevere with the series in due course based on so many highly praising reviews, but if based solely on the pilot it would have gathered dust.
If you want a more credible series in this vain, definately invest in my previously reviewed Cracker.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 13th, 2009)