We all know him for his shirt-less roles in “Twilight,” but in the new action movie “Abduction,” Taylor Lautner only takes his shirt off twice. Only one time do we see his abs, leaving a lot of female fans disappointed.
Besides the lack of Lautner’s abs, “Abduction,” still left more to be desired. Even the title doesn’t live up to its name, as there is barely any kidnapping to be found in this movie of secrets and lies.
Shot on a budget in the Pittsburgh area, “Abduction” has a misty look to it. Every once in a while Director Singleton adds some interest to an action scene, such as the big finale at the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium that’s otherwise a snore fest. However, it’s difficult to look at the positives with ridiculous lines like, “there’s a bomb in the oven,” or “you’ll be responsible for the death of every friend you have on Facebook.”
Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is just your average teenage angst bomb. However, his life begins to unravel once he and his childhood crush Karen (Lily Collins), while working on a school project, find a picture of Lautner’s younger self on a missing person’s website. This causes him to believe his parents, Kevin (Jason Isaacs), and Mara (Maria Bello), are not who they say they are. Soon enough, he has the CIA on his back, thanks to agent Frank Burton (Alfred Molina), while his psychiatrist, Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver), seems to suspiciously know more about the situation than seems possible.
Lautner, on the run with Collins, begins finding out bits and pieces about his past. Several shadowy figures chase the two, using the latest in computer technology, so that they know where everyone is at every second. As the movie progresses, like any predictable plot, we find that Lautner has what take to get himself out of the mess.
While the plot could have unraveled better, the movie wasn’t a total bust. Lautner could have been less robotic, but he showed potential. Now, if he could only break out of the preprogrammed characters he seems to be placed in.
“Abduction” displayed the disturbing next generation in surveillance. A time when you can’t make a phone call or look up a name on your laptop without the entire Serbian mafia, or the Mexican mafia, knowing about it. Worrying about how our government is using this technology distracted me from the movie itself.
Teenagers might like this movie, but it’s really only good for laughs.
If “Abduction” was a baby animal it would be killed immediately. Because only the strong survive – and this movie deserved to go down.
