Abduction

Plot synopsis:
Nathan (Taylor Lautner) is a high schooler in Pennslyvania, who likes parties and boxing with his dad. He has rage and self-identity issues, and sees a shink (Sigourney Weaver). He's apparently a good wrestler as well as a kickboxer. He's assigned to work on a school project with his neighbor, Karen (Lily Collins), who he's sweet on, but too shy to talk to. They find a website for missing children, and, aging one online, see a likeness of Nathan. He contacts the site, and it triggers an alert in New York. The tech on duty (Nickola Shreli) in New York activates a trace and Nathan's webcam and send a photo of Nathan to a Mr Kozlow (Michael Nyqvist).He takes some old pictures to his friend Gilly (Allen Williamson), who thinks they are suspicious. He confronts his mother (Maria Bello), who fortunately gets killed by operatives before she can explain. His father (Jason Isaacs) fights off one operative, but is killed as well, and Nathan runs away. He comes back to save Karen and defeats the armed operative, who tells him there's a bomb in the kitchen. Naturally, Nathan goes to look, and there's 7 seconds left! He and Karen run outside and leap into the pool as the house and operative are destroyed.Karen is hurt, so Nathan takes her to the hospital. We see Mr. Kozlow arrive in country, and he gets undressed in a car. In the hospital, Nathan calls 911 about his parents murdered but the operator told him to hold the line and the call connects to Frank Burton (Alfred Molina) of CIA, who tells him to stay put, and Kozlow's goons apparently have the pay phone tapped! His shrink, Dr. Bennett, uses balloons to hide Nathan from the hospital cameras, which everyone has tapped into as well. In a car escaping, Dr. Bennett explains that she's with the CIA, and Burton can't be trusted. She tells him it's ok to trust Martin Price or Paul Rasmus, but doesn't explain why. She also gives him keys to a safe house in Virginia. They leap from the car and Dr. Bennett's car is destroyed. By this time, if you're not completely dazed, you realize Nathan is some kind of important kid, with secret skills.Nathan and Karen wake up in the woods, completely refreshed and clean. Burton briefs a bunch of constipated agents about Martin Price, who is Nathan's real father, and has stolen data from Kozlow. Burton's boss tells him to get things under control. Nathan and Karen hitchhike to the safe house, where he finds a gun, a phone with encrypted text and some photos, who he recognizes as his mother. Karen makes a phone call, and apparently all of her relatives' phone lines are tapped too.Nathan's father left a BMW, and Nathan/Karen go looking for his mother, finding her grave. They find fresh flowers on the grave, and the cemetary operator tells them the flowers came from Paul Rasmus. The bad guys and the CIA intercept the cemetary computer query, even though it's not on the internet, and magically conjure an image of the BMW, apparently from the cemetary's high-resolution cameras. Nathan and Karen meet Gilly, who gets them fake IDs. They buy train tickets, but the bad guys have spotted the BMW and followed them to the train station.On the train, Karen asks if they are going to die, and Nathan says no. They kiss and start to grope, but stop because they're hungry? Karen goes to get food without him, and guess what happens next - the bad guys get her! Nathan, who has gone looking for Karen, meets the bad guy and they fight. Nathan manages to beat a grown, trained operative and Karen escapes her bondage with a piece of broken glass. Nathan shatters the train window and throws the bad guy out. The train stops, perhaps to investigate, and they exit the train. At this point, you're hoping the movie is over, but there's still 30 minutes left!Natah and Karen stroll through the woods, and the CIA chases them. Burton convinces them to trust him and buys them burgers, while about 100 agents protect them. Burton explains things, and Kozlow's bad guys start killing the CIA guys. Nathan realizes the phone has the text his father stole, and that Burton's name is on in the text. The bad guys attack the diner. During the attack, Nathan and Karen escape, and since Nathan doesn't trust Burton he tells Karen about the list. Of course, Kozlow can hear them and track them, so he calls the phone in the car and threatens all of Nathan's friends and arranges a meet. Meanwhile, the CIA raids Kozlow's hideout and kills his goons. They also find a recording of the conversation between Nathan and Kozlow, detailing the meet at PNC park in Pittsburgh.At the park, Martin calls Nathan and tells him not to go through with the meet. Nathan hangs up on him. Karen gets a photo of Kozlow and sends it to Nathan. They sit beside each other, and apparently, Gilly has taped a gun under Nathan's seat! Kozlow tells Nathan that his parents were awful people, and Nathan chooses to believe him. We relive Nathan's mother's death at the hands of Kozlow, and even at age 2, Nathan was a super-spy! Kozlow gets Nathan's gun, then chases him through the park. Nathan demonstrates his parkour abilities, and Martin calls him to tell him to lead Kozlow into a trap. Kozlow has time to see Martin hidden as a sniper about 500 yards away, and has time to yell before getting shot. Burton's boss arrives and take the phone, telling Burton he has lots to answer for. The CIA lets Nathan go, and Martin calls one last time to say goodbye. Karen and Nathan reunite, and Dr. Bennett arrives as well. She tells Nathan he can live with her, and Nathan/Karen stroll off, promising to go to Dr. Bennett's house (even though she never gave an address - apparently, Nathan can figure that out, too).Nathan and Karen sit in the now-empty stadium and make out.

Tags: suspenseful, action, murder, violence

Review:
But first, a disclaimer: despite my reasons, I want to assure you that none of my negative points will verbally lambast lead actor Taylor Lautner just because 'he's some guy from Twilight.' Nor will I make scalding reference to his gratuitous lack of upper body wear; the kind that one would hope comes off as witty commentary but ends up sounding more like an awkward combination of contempt and jealousy.
So, with that out of the way, let's get started.When the shy but short-tempered Nathan (Lautner) is paired up with girl next door Karen (Lily Collins) for a school research assignment, he is shocked to find an image of his younger self on a 'missing persons' website, prompting him to question everything he thought was normal about his life.
Naturally, his acting skills do need refinement, and I expect we're not looking at the next De Niro here, but his occasionally lackluster delivery is simply a branch of a much bigger problem- the script.As an unapologetic actioner, it should be expected that Abduction possesses some of the clunky dialogue clichés associated with the genre.
That was how long it took before Taylor Lautner took his shirt off in his purportedly gritty action thriller 'Abduction'- and depending on how you took to that fact, you may find yourself enjoying every minute of it or cringing in disbelief.
Rather, (and we may be risking our life and limb by saying this) it only demonstrates his limitations as an actor, especially since he practically recycles the same angsty broody expression throughout the film that he had already put forth umpteen times in the 'Twilight' movies.
That's the predicament Lautner's character Nathan finds himself in one day, after stumbling across a website with photos of missing children and using some software to approximate what one of those kids could look like as a teenager.
Though that's the very premise of the movie, the least we expected was for debut feature film screenwriter Shawn Christensen to come up with a better lead in than just some stupid research assignment Nathan and his girl next door Karen (Lily Collins, daughter of singer Phil) was assigned to work together on.
The fault doesn't lie with Lautner entirely- to appeal to the teenage demographic which the producers are relying on to turn up for this movie, they have decided to amp up the obligatory romance between Nathan and Karen, even to the extent of letting the two teenage characters engage in some heavy making-out that stops just before it crosses the PG13 boundary.
Not even veteran stars like Isaacs, Bello, Molina, Nyqvist and Sigourney Weaver (who plays Nathan's psychologist) can redeem this at-best made- for-TV thriller that tries to be the younger version of the Bourne series.
If you are a female fan of the "Twilight" series, there is probably only one thing you need to know about this movie: yes, lead star Taylor Lautner takes off his shirt at the slightest excuse to show off those washboard abs.For those who are not interested in Lautner, I am afraid there's ABSolutely nothing in "Abduction" for you - unless you like half-baked spy thrillers, lame acting and asinine script.The plot is about high school student Nathan Price (Taylor Lautner) who stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website.
But the truth could be that director John Singleton and the film-makers do not really care about the plot: they just want an excuse to show heart-throb Lautner and Collins on the run from some baddies (who included Swedish icon Michael Nyqvist of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo") in order to film some action sequences.Indeed, many films have gotten away with idiotic plots - provided they have stars that audiences could root for.
In this time of economic crisis and people all around us loosing homes and jobs, i just wonder what type of salary this Taylor Lautner got for his role in this movie?
It's hard to believe that this is the same director that did Boyz n the hood 20 years ago is now director of this piece of terrible piece of trash called abduction, it starts Lautner who was so good in Twlight many years back is awful here as a teenage who's parents were kidnapped is trying to prove his innocence and finds the killers who kidnapped the parents, this is so bad on fronts, the acting is worthless, some talents like Weaver and Molina are wasted, the screenplay is a mess and the editing is useless, this is one of the worst movies of the year and a complete disappointment from john singleton.I Was so very disappointed in this, Thumbs Way Down on this one..
not everything makes sense" But comparing to big action-spy movie names like Bourne, Mission Impossible and Die Hard which have delivered an excellent movie experiences which leaves you at the edge of your seat, Abduction feels more like a chick-flick packed with more action, or maybe a budget action film.
It's very subtle.The parts I enjoyed in the movie was the presence of veterans like Sigourney Weaver, Mario Bello and my favourite, Jason Isaacs who plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.
This film is a prime example to why certain actors are very underrated in Hollywood....I call it "The Luke Skywalker Syndrome"....One hit franchise that wrecks a young actor's career before it can really get started....The Twilight franchise....Although successful....Isn't a franchise that is critically acclaimed or well liked by fans other than young people with out-of-control hormones....And because of this...Films like Abduction is either overlooked or totally panned by fans...Sitting down to watch this film with Twilight in mind is going to ensure that viewers will NOT have a good time....Which is why wonderful movies like "Welcome To The Rileys" and "The Runaways" both starring Kristen Stewart didn't get nearly enough attention....Now is this particular film original..??...No, it's not....I have seen the "My picture on the milk carton" routine used more than once....But is Abduction a fun movie..??...Yes it is...Abduction is a popcorn movie....It's meant to simply allow the audience to have a good time....If people go into this movie expecting Oscar-like performances and a beautifully written storyline...Then those people are setting themselves up for a big let down...But why put yourself through that when all that needs to be done is to simply sit back and enjoy the ride....And that's all there is too it....
Granted, I don't have strong feelings about either performer.With a strong budget of $30M, the film looked confident and solid by John Singleton, the film is a fairly easy watch as it goes along, & the supporting cast of admired actors (Weaver, Molina, Bello) were fine.Singleton isn't too flashy, and might just be cashing a check...
I didn't find any redeeming quality in it, Sigourney Weaver even looked like she was wincing at how terrible the whole thing was.It was so terrible, that even if Taylor Lautner had his shirt off through the whole movie, sweat dripping off his body, his marvelous abs glistening, it still would have sucked just as much.
However, the brainless and lame story has many flaws and despite the cast with Sigourney Weaver, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello and Alfred Molina, the lead actor Taylor Lautner is a reasonable and unconvincing athlete and ruins any chance that this flick might have had.
The premise of the movie, the veteran cast and a talented director were the reasons why I wanted to see this film, despite Taylor Lautner and that the trailer looked awful.
Alfred Molina is a good actor, but not given much to do, while Jason Isaacs is wasted and Sigourney Weaver tries her best but hindered by awful dialogue and a character, like everyone else in all fairness, that I didn't care for at the end of the day.Overall, a hopelessly bland, derivative, poorly acted and stilted film.
A corrupt government or body take on one guy who is pretty good at high kicks, and which typically ended in some mass chase-cum-action sequence, set in a massive public forum such as a football game or a crowded theatre.That is the standard of movie we're talking here.
In fact, this is the first time that I have watched a movie at the cinema and literally felt like I could input the director's comments at every appropriate moment."Taylor, hold her in your arms.
I'll admit it, I thought the trailer for this action-thriller looked pretty good and, despite it being a Taylor Lautner vehicle, was quietly excited about seeing it.
The aforementioned veteran cast are positively woeful, John Singleton's direction is stilted and lead star Lautner (you may know him as Jacob from Twilight) has a long way to go before he will make a decent headliner.
Yes, there may be some resemblance to the Bourne movies, but just enjoy Abduction for what it is, a solid thriller/action flick that was a lot of fun to watch.
But I expect more out of a film, There are so many good actors out there that could have done a much better job, They may not be the 'Sex Symbol" that comes with Taylor, but at least they can act.
Viewing this film is the cinematic equivalent of watching a car crash in slow-motion, the audience observes the disaster and devastation unfold on-screen, but the only way for them to avoid this horrifying event is to simply vacate their theatre seat and approach the box office for a welcome refund on the admission price of their ticket.Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is your typical teenage boy, but when he is paired with his long-time crush Karen (Lily Collins) on a sociology project, his life begins to unravel as they find his picture on a missing children's website.
Expressions, emotions and acting in general seem to have been excluded from Singleton's reasoning during the direction of this film, because even the experienced Alfred Molina, Maria Bello, and Sigourney Weaver are shown to be seemingly 'phoning-in' performances as they no doubt realised what kind of production they had unfortunately become a part of.'Abduction' should be a film which is written about and praised alongside the likes of 'Airplane!' and 'Young Frankenstein,' because it is the perfect spoof of the action-thriller genre, encompassing every single cliché together with a laughable script and incredibly dubious acting, yet the sad thing is, this film is not a parody, but it is instead entirely serious motion picture.
He hulks where most would walk, and there's actually something about his gait that reminds me of a particular gentleman in my old gym who seemed to spend more time working on his quads than he did walking on them.Still, what would Taylor be without his hulking bulkNice to see Hollywood still like their identikit female companion to run holding hands, scream at the bad guys, hand Jacob (whoops, Nathan) weapons on cue, kiss-and-hold in the quiet moments, and ask that all important question: "are we going to die, Nathan?"Surrounding them are the appropriately menacing Russian bad guys, inept and untrustworthy CIA agents and Little Miss "I'll do a small cameo for a big cheque" Weaver.
At times, CIA chief Alfred Molina tries his hardest to channel Tommy Lee Jones' Fugitive lawman, but doesn't quite manage to be the put-upon man of experience.The story is a dippy mish-mash of the action-thriller genre and certainly doesn't give you any of those 'oh hell' moments that these films really need to make your heart beat fast.Abduction is just about good enough to make sure Taylor will get another crack at leading man; just next time, maybe try a couple more topless shots, son..
It was also nice to see some veteran actors who always deliver the goods like Agent Burton (Alfred Molina) as the task force lead for the CIA and Dr. Bennett (Sigourney Weaver) pulling off not just a heady shrink, but also some pretty fancy driving.
I think that the film did a good job of unfolding the background of how this whole thing came to pass, it had sufficient action and the teenagers had the intelligence level I expected, they weren't dumb as a bag of rocks but they made mistakes, in some cases the same kind of mistakes over and over, and they did not hold conversations like Harvard graduates.
This is really all I can say without ruining any major aspects in this tried and true plot.I'll start this review by saying that trailer was more action packed then the actual movie.
(Actually that would be too quick, they should be forced to sit down and watch this film on loop until they want to kill themselves, doubt any would make it past the 3 hour mark before tearing out their own eyes!) A special mention should also go to the producers, who have managed to spend $35000000 on a film with all the production value of a hallmark TV movie, good effort guys!!!AVOID THIS EXCREMENT!(Or buy as Christmas present on DVD for the person you hate most in the world).
If Taylor Lautner can keep getting parts like this and do them as well as he did this one (those kicks were impressive) I'm sure he'll be making movies into his 30s at least.
This is an action packed thriller with a touching love story and excellent performances from Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins.
I grew very bored of the bad action scenes.Like i said all in all a good plot and idea for a movie.
Like Cary Grant, he is thrust into a world of mystery, intrigue and government conspiracy when he is forced to flee from home with no one to trust, accompanied only by a contemporary Eva Marie Saint, in this case rising teen sensation Lily Collins.The film also draws inspiration from Tarantino's modern classic Kill Bill, through the inclusion of a David Carradine-like character in the guise of the Nathan's absent father.The dialogue alludes to modern conventions present in teen drama and escapist fantasy, for instance the Molly Ringwald 80's coming-of-age classics, the Chronicles of Narnia series and of course Stephanie Myers opus, the Twilight saga.
Sadly Bad. Sorry, Taylor Lautner, but your parody of a college look doesn't help very much to making this a good movie, even though your acting is some of the best in this show.
I thought this was an excellent film overall: well acted, well chosen cast, good story-line and a good balance of action and drama.I found the story-line was intriguing from early into the film and the actors felt convincing in their roles.There are some moments where the film lacks a little credibility, but not so much as to ruin the film in anyway.I believe there will be many more opportunities for Lautner to follow up with similar, action-type roles.
Seventeen year old Nathan(Taylor Lautner) lives pretty the good life, he has great parents (Maria Bello and Jason Issac), good friends, and everything.
The various action sequences and fight scenes were quite well done and not deja vu.Taylor Lautner's acting has been blasted in the past but here the movie doesn't rely too much on great acting so it's okay.
Sigourney Weaver, Alfred Molina Maria Bello and Jason Isaacs add stature to the movie.Overall quite good entertainment - worth a watch..
I found it to have a very good storyline, i particularity thought that Taylor Lautner (Nathan) and Lily Collins (Karen) acting was great.
The plot thickens, and takes turns for the wildly ridiculous, when bad guys show up at the house, his parents turn out to be CIA agents assigned to guard him, and Mr. Lautner and Miss Collins are forced to go on the run while they (and we, the audience) try to figure out just what the heck is going on.
If you like honest movies, with nice drama, decent action scene's, pretty good story telling, don't miss out on this movie.acting of lead characters is enjoyable and actually pretty good.
Conceived as an action vehicle for TWILIGHT star Taylor Lautner, ABDUCTION is an absolutely terrible film from start to finish; I mean, this goes beyond mere bad to become eye-poppingly, gratuitously awful.
The movie had about ten minutes of actually story strung together with bad acting (from Lautner) and action.
It is very fast paced, and I will say some of the fighting scenes are pretty good, but Taylor Lautner isn't made for this kind of action movie.
Lily Collins definitely wouldn't have been at the top of my list for the lead female role, I feel like she would do better in a love story, but i will say it did look like she tried her best to make this movie.
Taylor Lautner has proved his true talent as an actor who can carry a lead role -- not just a talented "pretty boy" camping off his good looks!
Well, teen heart-throb, Taylor Lautner, finally has his own feature film, and while the story sounded pretty good, I didn't expect much.
Twilight haters are being too harsh on the reviews, Taylor appears without his shirts as often as any leading character on any action movie.
The adults actors: Molina, Weaver, Isaacs and Bello do a good job, but since everything dances around Lautner, they are minimized by the script.Do yourself a favour and choose something else instead when deciding which film to watch..
~ 10/10 ~ but for a 36 year old it has all been seen before only much better~Much of the film was mediocre but watchable (with some pretty good action scenes) but the ending was just trite ~ painful to watch and mawkish dropping it from a 5 to 4~.
I think it did actually have potential and despite the bad reviews of Taylor Lautner, I do believe him capable of something a great deal better.
In this movie Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is a regular teenage boy.
In this movie Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is a regular teenage boy.