Plot
After a brief visit with his daughter Kim, Bryan Mills is met by his ex-wife, Lenore, who says she and her husband, Stuart St. John, are having marital problems. She has rekindled romantic feelings for Bryan who refuses to become involved while she is still married. Later, Stuart warns Bryan to stay away from Lenore.
The following day, Lenore texts Bryan asking to meet him. Bryan agrees, but upon returning to his apartment discovers Lenore's body. Almost immediately, the Los Angeles Police Department arrive to arrest Bryan on suspicion of murder. Bryan escapes and sets out to investigate the homicide. Meanwhile, LAPD Inspector Franck Dotzler, who quickly becomes familiar with Bryan's unique background, heads the manhunt to capture Bryan.
Bryan recovers weapons and electronics from a secure location, then retraces Lenore's footsteps just prior to her murder. At a convenience store, he recovers surveillance footage of Lenore being abducted by unidentified men. LAPD detectives arrive and unknown to them, Bryan allows himself to be arrested, then commandeers the police car to access LAPD's computer system from the vehicle's laptop to analyze information.
Later, Bryan meets with Kim on her college campus and removes a surveillance bug that was placed on her by the LAPD. He learns about Stuart's bodyguards from her and that she is pregnant. Bryan abducts and interrogates Stuart, who reveals that his debt to an ex-KGB Spetsnaz and Afghan War veteran operative named Oleg Malankov was the probable motive for Lenore's murder.
With assistance from his CIA colleagues and a reluctant Stuart, Bryan gains entry to Malankov's heavily-guarded suite. After killing the guards and engaging in a fight with Malankov, taking the handgun away from him and shooting him twice in the chest, mortally wounding him. Bryan learns from Malankov that Stuart had played both men against each other, telling him that they were tricked by the same man, before dying. Meanwhile, Stuart shoots Sam in the lower neck and abducts Kim, intending to flee the country with the 12 million dollars he collected from Lenore's life insurance policy.
Bryan chases Stuart to the airport just as Stuart's plane prepares for takeoff. After disabling the plane, Bryan shoots Stuart in the shoulder, beating him into submission. He says that after Stuart spends time in prison for involvement in Lenore's murder, Stuart will later answer to him for her death. Bryan then hits Stuart St. John in the face and knocks him out. Dotzler and the LAPD arrive and arrest Stuart.
In the aftermath of Stuart's arrest, Kim informs Bryan that if her baby is a girl, she wants to name her Lenore, after her mother.
Description
- Directed by : Olivier Megaton
- Produced by : Luc Besson
- Written by : Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
- Starring :
- Liam Neeson
- Forest Whitaker
- Famke Janssen
- Maggie Grace
- Dougray Scott
- Sam Spruell
- Leland Orser
- Music by : Nathaniel Méchaly
- Cinematography : Eric Kress
- Edited by : Audrey Simonaud, Nicolas Trembasiewicz
- Production company : EuropaCorp
- Distributed by : 20th Century Fox(International), EuropaCorp Distribution(France)
- Release dates : 16 December 2014 (Berlin premiere), 21 January 2015 (France)
- Running time : 109 minutes
- Country France : United States
- Language : English
- Budget $48 million
- Box office : $91.8 million
- Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills
- Forest Whitaker as Inspector Franck Dotzler
- Maggie Grace as Kim Mills
- Famke Janssen as Lenore St. John
- Dougray Scott as Stuart St. John
- Sam Spruell as Oleg Malankov
- Leland Orser as Sam
- Jon Gries as Casey
- Jonny Weston as Jimmy
- Dylan Bruno as Smith
On 28 September 2012, Liam Neeson said that there would not be a third film, or that the chances of Taken 3 happening were minimal. Later, on 9 October 2012, Taken and Taken 2 writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen told Hollywood that Fox wanted them to do a third film, but it would go in another direction. As of 24 June 2013, the script was being written by the film writers, but no director was set. On 29 January 2014, it was announced that Olivier Megaton (director of Taken 2), would direct the film.
Casting
On 24 June 2013, it was revealed that Neeson was in final talks to reprise his role as Bryan Mills, and would take a $20 million salary for the role. On 29 January 2014, Forest Whitaker joined the film. On 1 February 2014, it was revealed that Neeson said that he would be in the film as long as no characters are kidnapped ("taken"). On 12 March 2014, Maggie Grace joined the cast, followed by closing a deal with Famke Janssen the next day. On 24 March 2014, Leland Orser also returned to play his character, as did Jon Gries. On 31 March 2014, Jonny Weston signed on to appear in the film as Kim's boyfriend.
Filming
Principal photography of the film began on 29 March 2014 in Los Angeles, as well as in Atlanta. On 8 April 2014, Neeson was spotted shooting some scenes in Los Angeles. On 24 April 2014, filming began in Covington, Georgia, where they filmed scenes at Newton College & Career Academy lasting for two days on 24 to 25 April.
Music
On 30 September 2014, Nathaniel Méchaly was set to score the film.
Release
20th Century Fox released the film on January 9, 2015 in the United States.
Reception / Box office
In North America, the film earned $14.7 million on its opening day (including previews) which is the third-highest opening day for a film released in January behind 2008’s Cloverfield ($17.16 million) and 2012’s The Devil Inside ($16.8 million). It topped the box office in its opening weekend with $39.2 million against a $38 – $39 million projection. making it second highest debut in the Taken franchise behind Taken 2 ($49 million) and the third-highest January opening of all time behind Ride Along ($41.5 million) and Cloverfield ($40.1 million).
Outside North America, the film opened a week prior to its US debut in Korea and Hong Kong, and earned $8 million and $1.27 million respectively, for a total of $9.34 million. In its actual opening weekend outside of North America, the film was #2 behind Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb earning $41 million from 4,730 screens in 36 markets. Highest international openings were witnessed in the UK and Malta ($10.86 million) and Australia ($4.8 million). It also went #1 in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.
Critical reception
Taken 3 has received mostly negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 11%, based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 3.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Hampered by toothless PG-13 action sequences, incoherent direction, and a hackneyed plot, Taken 3 serves as a clear signal that it's well past time to retire this franchise." On Metacritic the film has a score of 26 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Taken 3 an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Source : Wikipedia.
