Abduction

Title: Abduction

Director: John Singleton

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Action, Suspense

Format: In theaters now

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lilly Collins, Alfred Molina

Nathan is a carefree teen with a normal suburban life, living with his two parents and crushing on the girl next door….

Until one day he sees a photo of him from childhood on a missing person’s website. At first he doesn’t believe that the little boy could be him but he can’t shake the odd feeling he has so with the click of a button he ages the photo and is left staring at a picture of himself…

Which leads me to the question:

What would you do if you discovered that the people you lived with, your parents, weren’t really your parents?

What would you do if your life had been one big lie? Nathan decides to confront his mother who breaks down and admits that she isn’t the baby momma. After telling him how much she loves him she rushes from the room to get his “dad” (not really the baby daddy) but is sidelined…permanently.

Nathan witnesses his faux (but real to him) parents get murdered before his eyes and then a whole chain of events is set into motion…

Who can he trust? Who is he really? And why do a bunch of people want him dead?

The only thing he knows for sure is that the girl next door is hot and he wants to kiss her so he has to keep her safe. (A good tag line – yes?) he he he.

Yeah, Yeah, this is a teenager flick. I know that’s what you’re saying. But clearly something about the movie (could it be Taylor Lautner’s abs?) has you interested enough to read this review. Could it be because the thought of seeing your childhood self on the back of a milk carton is enough to make you shiver? Is it because you wonder what you might do if you found out you weren’t really who you thought?

It’s a good concept. When I saw the previews I was intrigued (and no NOT by his hottness’ abs – well okay maybe a little…) and it seemed like a good plot. So when the opportunity arrived for me to drag my husband off to the theater to watch it I was thrilled.

Was it any good?

I liked it. It wasn’t the best movie ever but it was an interesting plot and had a lot of cool action scenes. I liked Lautner and I thought he did a good job and he easily fits into an action movie. The setting was cool and it changed a lot because Nathan was constantly on the run. There were cool cars, motorcycles and even trains. There was baseball and guns too. Every guy’s dream, right?

It also had Sigourney Weaver, who played Nathan’s head shrink. (Surprise, he suffered from anger management and felt like a stranger in his own life!) I liked her, she is a great actress and she was a great addition to a cast I didn’t really recognize much (besides Lautner, of course).

There were some things about the movie that bothered me. Such as, Nathan’s crush, AKA the girl next door. In the beginning its clear they have some sort of history and they give each other long lingering looks from across the hall. Except, for me, her long lingering looks looked more like “I know you want me but I’m too hot for you”. It annoyed me.  And also, why did she have to be dating a jerk at the beginning of the movie? What point did it serve really? To show that Nathan had anger issues but managed not to bash in the other dudes face? Okay, that happened, but really Nathan didn’t conquer his anger because right after the confrontation he went and got drunk. It’s called drinking away the pain, my friends…

Anywhoo, this girl continued to annoy me (I know I’m not being nice, but I have reasons) during the movie because really did she not own a brush? Her hair seriously needed one. There was one scene when she had finally pulled it back and I was like “Thank You!” but then two seconds later she had it back down. I wanted to tell her that, “Hey, yeah, guys like long hair, but only when combed.”

And then there was this scene where she hurt her shoulder. She’s all climbing out of the rubble (Rubble from what you ask? Watch the movie!) and holding it making a “owie” face and then they are speeding away on his bike to his hospital. I’m thinking, “Wow, people are trying to kill him and he has to run, but he’s making a pit stop at the ER for his girlfriend, she must really be injured”.

Nope.

They slap a band aid on her shoulder.

Yup. A band aid. It’s square.

I wanted to smack her. Seriously, you couldn’t wait to get a band aid so your boyfriend could run from the men trying to murder him? High maintenance, that girl.

Then later, she does something else I don’t care for. Okay, I’ll tell you. The bad guy catches her and wants her to tell him the room number that Nathan is in. She tells him no. The guy threatens to break her finger and she caves…

I mean really? It was nothing another band aid couldn’t have fixed. Way to stand up for your man. Never mind that he saves your life like fifty times during the movie (fifty might be a little exaggerated).

So, aside from a few inconsistencies here and there it was still entertaining. And I think that would be the goal of a movie like this. To entertain and to make you wonder what you would do in his position.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants an action movie that doesn’t take a lot of thinking to figure out. It’s just a good time, with a popular actor as the lead. Nothing wrong with that.

So there you have it. My opinion.