TAKEN 3 has all the potential to be a great action thriller. After all, the first TAKEN was a mini classic, a timeless movie with plenty of crowd-pleasing action and superb choreography to recommend it. TAKEN 2 was a step down but still okay, and TAKEN 3 is exactly that: okay, but middling when it should really be great.

The problem with these last two films lies in director Olivier Megaton. This is the guy who also mishandled TRANSPORTER 3 and COLOMBIANA. Megaton's problem is that he has no idea how to shoot proper action sequences, so instead he goes for random split-second editing in which we get about three different camera angles every second. The result is an incoherent mess in which the viewer has zero idea of what's going on or to whom. The various fight scenes and car chases in this film are rendered incomprehensible as a result.

It's a pity, because TAKEN 3 has a perfectly serviceable plot similar to classic South Korean thrillers like THE SUSPECT: Liam Neeson is wrongly accused of his wife's murder and goes on the run, searching for the real culprit while pursued by just about everybody. Neeson is pretty bored (and boring) by now but the presence of assured actors like Forest Whitaker and Dougray Scott keep things interesting, and it's great to see DIE HARD 2 thug Don Harvey back on the big screen. Let's face it, though: without Megaton, TAKEN 3 could have been rated a seven or eight; with him, it's a disappointment.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is reconnecting with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). Her now-husband Stuart St. John (Dougray Scott) is not happy with them getting closer. Bryan's daughter Kim Mills (Maggie Grace) is hesitant to tell him that she's possibly pregnant. Bryan finds Lenore dead in his bed and the police arrives to arrest him. He makes a run for it and police detective Franck Dotzler (Forest Whitaker) investigates.

The plot is basically The Fugitive with Bryan as The Terminator. It's a bit of a miss. The silly question of the franchise is who gets taken next. I would have given them a dog and have it taken. In this movie, Lenore's taking is not played up. That's the first problem. The franchise is called Taken after all. That would have raised the tension and the dark grittiness right from the start.

I don't completely buy Bryan running away from the cops right from the start. I also don't buy Stuart's plan. The insurance company would hold off paying until the case is solved to their satisfaction. No insurance company is that eager to pay $12 million so quickly. The whole thing is on the edge of logic and believability. At least, the franchise has a ready-to-be-taken character in the next movie. Here comes Taken 4.

This is my biggest guilty pleasure of all time, I know this film is God awful, from the directing to the writing and the stereotypical villain but I honestly don't care it was just popcorn entertainment and seeing Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills is always good. The plot of this film is basically the plot of The Fugitive. This film is so bad it's good and that's why I give this film 6/10.