3 DAYS TO KILL Is a Decent Way To Kill Two Hours On a Sunday Afternoon

3 DAYS TO KILL Review:

- Even at their worst, Luc Besson-produced films tend to have a pulpy, B-movie sensibility that I find entertaining. Unfortunately, 3 DAYS TO KILL - directed by McG and co-written by Besson - is indeed one of the lesser films that the legendary director has had his name attached to. Don't get me wrong, it's got its moments, and there's some real fun to be had here. But the film seems to be an uneasy melding of Besson's pulp-action, darkly satirical sensibilities with McG's lighter, fluffier tendencies. The movie wants to be both badass and sappy - a weird mix of McG's TV show Chuck and Besson's signature spy thrillers like Leon: The Professional. The result is a film that is sort of all-over-the-place, and that begins to come apart at the seams the longer it goes.

What must be said, however, is that - hell yeah, it's good to see Kevin Costner back as a badass. It's been far too long, and guys like Costner only get more entertaining the older and more grizzled they become. And Costner excels here as a former trained CIA killer named Ethan Renner. This isn't him trying to play the superhero - no, this is a guy whose back and knees ache, who's got a lot of mileage, and who is most definitely too old for this $#!%. Costner really helps to carry the movie, and he ably juggles all of its tonal extremes. He's pretty much the only person in the film who pulls off both the badassery and the sentimentality with aplomb.

Now, Costner is good, but the plot he's thrown into does him no favors. Basically, just after retiring as a spy, Costner finds out that he has a deadly disease that leaves him with less than a year to live. Hoping to make the best of the time he has left, he travels to Paris to try to reconcile with his estranged wife (Connie Nielsen) and daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). But when he arrives, a mysterious, femme-fatale CIA handler named Vivi (Amber Heard) recruits him for one last mission. It seems that a terrorist whom Ethan had put away years back is now on the loose, and Ethan is once again needed to track him down. In exchange for his services, Vivi promises Ethan an experimental cure for his disease.

What ensues is a very Chuck-like comedy of errors, in which Ethan attempts to balance his new-found commitment to his family with his renewed obligation to the CIA. The problem is that the movie doesn't focus in enough on the main characters or plot to really make us care, all the while distracting with numerous subplots that are go-nowhere.

For example, Amber Heard's character, Vivi, feels like a lot of wasted potential. I'm an unabashed Amber Heard fan, and I think she excels at doing campy, pulpy, winking-at-the-audience parts (see: Drive Angry). However, the movie never really settles on what the deal is with Vivi - we get vague hints that she's an exhibitionist and a danger-addict. And there's a half-baked attempt at creating an adversarial relationship with Costner, who inexplicably seems not only strangely immune to her feminine wiles, but also actively turned off by them. Vivi is a fun character, and Heard vamps and camps it up with gusto - but the character is ultimately too random - and too tonally off from most of the rest of the film - to make an impact.

As another example, there's a pretty pointless subplot in which Costner goes back to the old apartment he kept in Paris, only to find it occupied by a large, semi-impoverished family. Initially, Costner aims to kick out the squatters, but soon warms up to them. It's a very needless plot thread that just makes the movie feel padded. Meanwhile, the film's villains are sorely lacking in personality and clear motivation, and are generic as can be. Same goes for Ethan's wife - Nielsen's character is just sort of there, and we don't quite see any evidence of why Ethan is so eager to win her back. Most of the time, she seems sort of abrasive and cold towards him, until suddenly a switch is flipped and she inexplicably comes around.

One more bit of oddness: the entire story thread involving the magic serum that Vivi gives to Ethan - it's incredibly random in how it plays out, and makes no real sense. The whole conceit is that the drug makes Ethan woozy and weak, unable to see straight or stand straight. So why is Vivi giving it to him just before missions? And why, exactly, is Ethan needed for these missions - at the least, couldn't they get him some back up? Point being: if the CIA is so intent on catching the badguys here, why send in a guy, solo, who's prone to blacking out on the job? I was waiting for some twist about Ethan being manipulated by the CIA, but it never came.

Handled much better, however, is the Costner-Steinfeld, father-daughter relationship. Steinfeld is a great young actress, and she, like Costner, makes scenes that could have been eye-rollingly sappy work way better than they have a right to.

What also works, for the most part, is the action. McG has always had a knack for staging fun, energetic action scenes - and he does it again here.There is some classic Besson-style mayhem - gunfights, car-chases, and good ol' fashioned brawls. Nothing quite as good as the best scenes in, say, Taken, but some very solid stuff nonetheless. And Costner dishes out the right hooks with gravitas aplenty. He also gets a chance to hit us with some dryly funny "get off my lawn" humor, which sometimes misses the mark, but occasionally made me chuckle. In particular, a speech he gives to his daughter's soccer-playing boyfriend about the merits of real American football is pretty amusing. What's more, even when the movie is sort of flailing plot and tone-wise, it still looks great and features all sorts of well-shot Paris locales.

I can sometimes chalk up the weirdness in these Besson-produced films to them simply having a slightly foreign-feeling, Eurocentric sensibility. And often, I'm willing to forgive or even embrace the jarring eccentricities because they are outweighed by a tangible, sleek sense of subversiveness - and a visceral badassery - that makes these movies feel distinct and unique from their American counterparts. However, the eccentricities of 3 DAYS TO KILL include major logic gaps, underdeveloped characters, and tonal oddities that can't simply be covered up by a game lead in Costner and some bursts of cool action. And yet, there is fun to be had here, and fans of Euro-action may still want to give this one a look. Just don't expect the next Taken.

My Grade: B-

TAKEN 2 Is Entertainingly Pulpy Sequel

TAKEN 2 Review:

- Many critics have taken aim at TAKEN 2 ... but then again, many also dismissed the original TAKEN. I'm not sure why. The first Taken had everything you could want in an action movie. It was badass, Liam Neeson owned in it, and it just worked wonderfully as over-the-top pulp. There's really nothing better than watching a dude who looks like he could be your dad whooping ass like nobody's business. And Neeson plays that sort of part to perfection. Since Taken became a box-office hit, we've seen Neeson reprise the role of grizzled-yet-cerebral asskicker many times. Some of these films have been duds, some have been awesome (this year's THE GREY being a huge highlight). But Taken - while a relatively simple and no-frills film, stands the test of time as eminently rewatchable and endlessly satisfying for its bare-knuckle pleasures. And now ... Taken 2. Some seem annoyed that this film even exists. I don't know why. I too get annoyed wit hunnecessary sequels, but Taken is less about a particular narrative, and more about the crowd-pleasing aesthetic I described above - watching a guy morph from frumpy Dad to ruthless weapon of mass destruction whenever his loved ones are in danger. And you know what? As far as sticking to that fundamental premise goes, Taken 2 delivers the goods. The movie has some notable faults, but like its predecessor, it's ridiculously entertaining and a great bit of action-flick escapism.

TAKEN 2 picks up a short time after the events of the first movie. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has moved to LA to be closer to his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and their daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). Mills is still an overprotective, hyper-paranoid dude, but he's also been a loving and involved father. As in, sure, he tracks down the home of Kim's new boyfriend and interrupts them mid-hook up to check in ... but still, he's just looking out for his daughter. And his ex-wife seems to appreciate that. She's now separated from her second husband, and there are some hints at a rekindled romance with Bryan. To that end, Bryan invites Lenore and Kim to join him on a trip to Istanbul. He's going there to work some security detail, but figures that, afterwords, there may be an opportunity for some quality father-daughter and husband-ex-wife time. Meanwhile, however, a bunch of sinister Albanians are plotting ways to wreak unholy vengeance on Mr. Mills. Seems they're still upset about all of the random redshirts that Mills killed in Taken 1. As it turns out, those faceless kidnappers weren't just identity-less thugs, but people's husbands, brothers, and sons. So the patriarch of the group has rounded up a gang to take out Mills and family while in Istanbul. Of course, they don't just want to kill him - they want to steal away his family and put him through emotional torture. And so Taken 2 revs up, and Liam Neeson is forced to kick ass once again.

The biggest dynamic-shift in Taken 2 is that Neeson is only solo for part of the film. For stretches, either his daughter or wife tags along - depending on who is or isn't being held against their will at a given moment. This could have seriously derailed the film, but mostly, it works pretty well. In particular, there are some strong moments between Grace and Neeson, and there's a fun arc that develops between them - basically seeing Bryan have to do away with his overprotective tendencies, and allow his daughter to embrace her inner Mills-family badass gene. After not doing much of note in Taken 1, and having had a pretty thankless action role in the mediocre Lockout, I wasn't sure if Maggie Grace could bring anything to the table here. But you know what? She's pretty good. And Janssen is also good, and it's too bad she doesn't get to unleash a little hell of her own, Phoenix-style. Oh well, maybe in Part 3.

But here's the thing overall with Luc Besson-produced films like this one: they have a Euro sensibility that is different than the usual American action movie. There aren't a lot of quips, and there's almost zero sense of irony or winking at the audience. Everything is played straight - and while there's a knowing pulpiness in the film, the tone is not in any way jokey. To some, it's hard to process that - when things get crazy, shouldn't there be some funny one-liner to diffuse the tension? That's not how Besson  (who co-wrote the film) and co. roll. They take their pulpy action very seriously, and it's been that way since the days of La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. What I like about this is that I find it easier to get caught up in the action when there's nothing that's overtly eye-roll worthy. Even when there's logic-gaps (and there are some obvious moments of absurdity here), it doesn't feel like as big a deal, because this type of Euro action flick doesn't feel as desperate to please as many of the big American blockbusters. If you can't handle your action relatively humorless, then perhaps stay away. But if you yearn for the sort of deadly serious yet brazenly cheesy action that's been largely missing from pop-culture since Jack Bauer hung up his CTU vest, then all I can say is: here ya' go.

That being said, to me the biggest glaring flaw in the film is the lack of great villains. Taken 1 also didn't have truly memorable badguys, but that was besides the point. Here, you notice it a little more because of how the film is structured. The old Albanian patriarch I mentioned earlier is set up as the Big Bad, but he's an old chubby guy so he's not really a physical threat. This makes his ultimate encounter with Neeson a bit anticlimactic. I would also then liked to have seen some of the main henchmen built up better as badasses - again, to give their face-offs with Neeson a little more gravitas. I mean, the movie's biggest mano e mano fight scene is Neeson against some short, stocky guy with a bad haircut and garish tracksuit. There's never any question that the jabroni in a tracksuit is in for a grade-A beatdown.

I also think that the movie touches on a very interesting idea, but never 100% follows through in a satisfying manner. That being the notion that all of the nameless thugs you see gunned down by the hero in a typical action movie ... that they actually have friends and family who are pissed that their loved one was a casualty of one man's vigilante justice. I felt like there was some real potential here, but when Neeson comes back at the Albanians with "true, but your sons and brothers kidnapped innocent girls and sold them into slavery, so screw you." ... and that's sort of that. I mean, I don't want or need Taken 2 to be a deep philosophical meditation on the cycle of violence and how it's self-perpetuating, but -- it would have been cool to at least see it more fully integrated as a key theme in the movie's plot, and not just as an excuse to send a bunch of badguys after Neeson and his family.

But really, when you get down to it, what I look for in a movie like this is: how many moments of worthy badassery were there? And the answer is: plenty. I won't give away some of the best bits, but the movie pretty effortlessly kept me smiling and entertained throughout. The build-up to the kidnapping was fairly methodical, sure - but that made Neeson being forced back into action all the sweeter. Director (and holder of an incredible name) Olivier Megaton delivers the goods, crafting some excellent car chases, shoot-outs, foot-chases, and brawls. I enjoyed the Istanbul location as well, and found it a refreshing setting for a movie of this type. I will list one final complaint - that being the relatively limp ending of the film. I was sure that there'd be one final moment of badassery, or a final twist leading into a Part 3, to make sure we all left the theater properly pumped-up. But really, nothing all that awesome to send 'em home happy.

All in all, Taken 2 was fun as hell and delivered some gripping action. Is this a classic? No - it loses some of the laser-focus of Part 1, and struggles a bit to come up with a compelling plot to convincingly drive the action. But I will say ... the level of rewatchability is still there. This is one of those great Sunday afternoon films that you'll stop and watch if ever you come across it on cable. And hell, why not - bring on a Part 3.

My Grade: B+