Abducted Suspense
Let me tell you how I think "Abduction" came to be and I must say there are spoilers in the rest of this review. I think someone had this really good idea for a thriller about a teenage boy who not only discovers that his parents are not really his parents but he is involved in some huge CIA cover up, something along the lines of "The Bourne Identity" with the teenager trying to find out the truth whilst on the run from a mysterious agency who come after him. But someone decided that popular young actor Taylor Lautner with his six pack, biceps and pretty boy looks was an ideal candidate to become the next big action star, the next Matt Damon, they even name drop Damon in the movie. But it doesn't work as whilst obviously a movie targeting a teen market it is not only ridiculous as it plays up to Lautner's teen appeal but in doing so lacks atmosphere, suspense and becomes little more than a series of pretty action scenes which might please the Lautner fan club but disappoint most other people.
Nathan (Taylor Lautner - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) is a pretty boy bad ass who likes to live wild be it on his motor bike or riding on the hood of a car to a party. He also has a crush on his childhood friend Karen (Lily Collins - The Blind Side) who have been assigned to work together on a school project. Whilst researching on the web they come across a website for missing children which has a photo on it which looks like Nathan when he was younger and when Nathan uses software to age the photo he is horrified to see it looks like him. Before his parents Mara (Maria Bello) and Kevin (Jason Isaacs) can answer his questions two men saying they are cops storm in demanding they hand over Nathan forcing him and Karen to go on the run.
"Abduction" lowered my expectations from the opening scene which features Nathan riding on the hood of a friend's jeep speeding along a country road, it is absolutely ridiculous. That sense of being ridiculous continues into the subsequent party scene where Lautner looks serious uncomfortable till we get to the morning after and we get the less than surprising shirtless scene, well you knew there had to be at least one. The sad thing is that once you get past the fan club pleasing nonsense "Abduction" has this interesting idea of Nathan discovering his parents are not his parents but also that he has a mysterious agency after him. The story from Shawn Christensen has a great deal of potential to be an action packed thriller in the same mould as the Bourne movies.
Unfortunately whilst it has this entertaining idea for a thriller the end result is little more than a series of action scenes with very little suspense. Again watching Lautner along with the attractive Lily Collins escape from a building being blown up, fighting bad guys and racing around on a motorbike might appeal to a young crowd but it makes surprisingly dull for grown ups. It lacks the suspense that the storyline needed to work and with such ridiculous ideas such as a bomb in an oven it is at times laughable, in fact it is more laughable than anything.
As for the acting well there are some well known and very good actors in "Abduction" such as Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello. But the stars are Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins and unfortunately Lautner looks seriously out of his depth struggling to bring character to his part and only looks comfortable during the scenes where he is meant to look hunky.
What this all boils down to is that if you are a huge fan of Taylor Lautner then "Abduction" will be entertaining but for anyone else it is laughable.
