There is one sentence that pretty much sums up my views on ‘Abduction’: I’m glad it was “free”! This cinema trip was not taken with my fellow unlimited cinema addict but instead with my orange Wednesday buddy (aka my mother) so luckily no money passed over the counter or otherwise my disappointment might have been so much greater.
The opening scenes revealed the protagonist (Nathan) as brave, but a little immature; my expectations were not high. I must admit I have not seen Taylor Lautner in any other film but his performance in ‘Abduction’ was less than impressive. The supporting cast were much better actors; in fact the stark contrast between them and Lautner made everything so much worse. The real star however, was Sigourney Weaver, yet despite playing an intriguing character (as an undercover family friend posing as Nathan’s therapist) and briefly bringing the film to life, she occupies a very short amount of screen time.
It was clear that Lautner was chosen for his “look” rather than having the skills to play this part. He might look great with his shirt off but when you see his ridiculous reaction to finding himself on a missing persons website you will happily swap his looks for someone who can act.
However the blame is not all on Lautner’s shoulders as he wasn’t given much to work with in the way of lines by the writer Shawn Christensen, including such gems as: “I saw my parents murdered in front of my own eyes”. The plot was stretched pretty thin too, following a predictable action genre storyline of a battle for information and I was disappointed that the “missing persons” aspect played only a small part. When watching the trailer this aspect immediately impressed me, my head buzzing with questions! Why is he on a missing persons website? Has he been kidnapped? If so by who? And why? But as it turns out [SPOILER] the whole thing is just a hoax by the ‘bad guys’ to draw Nathan out into the open. Another major disappointment.
The one part of this film I actually liked was the use of new technology. It was the first time I, personally, saw an iPad used in a film although it wasn’t used in a way that was integral to the plot it at least reflected how the technology in our lives is evolving. The fact that Kozlow (the villain played by Michael Nyqvist) threatens Nathan via facebook: "if you don't give me the list I'll kill all your friends on Facebook", shows contemporary evil at it’s most amusing.
Otherwise I remained unimpressed from beginning to end. The very thin plot eventually just withered out leaving Nathan without parents, foster or otherwise, in the picture and nothing better to do than carry on going to school and hanging out with his new girlfriend. After everything this character has been through he does not show a shred of emotion and to be honest by this point the audience isn’t feeling much emotion towards the characters. I will say that if this film is aimed at a younger audience it is probably quite enjoyable, but through my eyes it was terrible. The writing was cringe worthy, Lautner’s acting was wooden and the plot was disappointing. I wouldn’t recommend this film as it barely scrapes 1.5 stars – the extra half a star purely for Sigourney Weavers small, but uplifting part.
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