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Canberra Today 25°/28° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Abduction (PG) ? ?

IS this flabby thriller the work of black American director John Singleton who two decades ago gave us that plangent drama of teenaged boyz in New York “Boyz N The Hood”? Sadly, it is.

Nineteen-year-old Nathan’s mom nonchalantly watches his father giving him heavy training in unarmed combat. One night, two heavies break in and shoot both parents, but not before Nathan learns that he’s not who he believes himself to be.

With class-mate Karen from across the road, Nathan flees and starts trying to solve the puzzle. CIA agent Burton (Alfred Molina) joins the hunt as do the forces of nasty led by Russian spy Kozlow (Michael Nyqvist), both prepared to kill to acquire a coded list of persons of interest to intelligence agencies.

Playing psychologist Dr Bennett who’s been counselling Nathan does not strain Sigourney Weaver. Lily Collins’s main asset as Karen is a sweet face evoking the teenaged Elizabeth Taylor. As Nathan, Taylor Lautner’s body may get impressionable young women all hot and sweaty but if he has other abilities, they aren’t apparent.

The film’s dramatic pinnacle is Nathan’s disposing of a Koslov henchman aboard an Amtrak train, trashing a pair of sleeper cabins in the process. While Shawn Christensen’s screenplay may sprinkle lively moments through that flabby plot, its inventiveness lacks inventiveness. The revelations are unremarkable, the outcome is predictable and the resulting film is less exciting than it could have been.

At Dendy and Hoyts

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Dougal Macdonald

Dougal Macdonald

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