No one expected the adventures of Bryan Mills to endure into two movies, much less three.  But French writer-producer Luc Besson’s vision of a rugged, confident, middle-aged man with a particular set of skills not only made Taken (2008) a huge hit, but turned star Liam Neeson’s career in a new direction and led to Taken 2 in 2012 and now Taken 3.  I’ve enjoyed all three episodes, though the films have become wilder and less believable with each new iteration.  Hopefully this will be the last one so that Neeson can get on with better things.

Olivier Megaton (who directed 2) returns for 3, in which Mills’ ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) are targeted, while Mills is blamed for a murder and chased around Los Angeles by cops led by Forest Whitaker. There is rather too much plot, involving Russian mobsters, Lenore’s husband Stuart (Dougray Scott) and Mills’ old buddies, who try to help him out of the jam.  A couple of major-league action sequences enliven the story but are so over-the-top that it is hard to take them seriously — especially the scene in which Mills drives a cop car into an elevator shaft.  How does he get out of that one?

It’s all testosterone-fueled, PG-13-rated Hollywood hokum with revenge offering an innocent man the opportunity to put a city on high alert with no consequence.  He’s a one-man destruction force, two steps ahead of the cops all the way, ready to do whatever it takes to save his family.  If John Wayne had been born fifty years later, this is the type of movie he would be being offered.  Neeson is a calm character, fun to watch, even when we know there is no way that he should be able to do the things he does.  I almost want to recommend it . . . but no.  Enough is enough; it’s time for Bryan Mills to permanently retire.  ☆ ☆.  29 January 2015.