Taken 3 (4/10): A parody of The Fugitive more than an actual sequel

“If you go down this road, the LAPD, the FBI, the CIA... they're all gonna come for you. They'll find you. And they'll stop you.”

Taken 3 is less of a sequel and more of a parody of memorable action films such as The Fugitive and even the first Taken. I was a huge fan of the original which I even included among my favorite films the year it came out because I was blown away by Liam Neeson’s performance and the gripping action sequences. I also admit defending the sequel, although it is a decision I regret now that I have rewatched the film, because I just loved the character that Neeson plays. I thought the idea of a franchise for Bryan Mills would be an awesome one, but you just can’t continue making it revolve around his family. I mean his daughter should be in desperate need of a psychiatrist after everything that she has gone through. I don’t know how Maggie Grace pulls it off, but she looks even younger now than she did 10 years ago when she starred in the first season of Lost. This time the plot revolves around Bryan’s ex-wife getting murdered and him getting framed for her death. While being chased by the police, Bryan has to discover who was behind Lenny’s murder. We’ve seen this plot played out many times before, but no one has done it better than The Fugitive. You even have Forest Whitaker here playing the smart detective trying to solve the case while he is chasing Bryan (similar to what Tommy Lee Jones did in The Fugitive). The villains in this film are probably the weakest element and are often laughable which is why I felt this was sort of a parody instead of an action movie. The action scenes are difficult to watch because the camera is moving all the time and there are over 50 shots every minute or so. There are also many unbelievable scenes which Bryan walks out of without a scratch, and we don’t even see how he survives some of them. But somehow the climax outdoes them all in ridiculousness. Taken 3 is a huge letdown and hopefully the final film of the franchise as promised in the posters. 

Liam Neeson is an actor that I will always enjoy watching on screen, especially when making action scenes and threatening people over the phone. My only recommendation is that they don’t show him running because it isn’t one of his strengths. Unfortunately the film has so many shots and cuts that you can’t enjoy Neeson fighting off the villains. Forest Whitaker is a great actor, but you can tell that sometimes he is just cashing in a performance. He is basically playing the same character he did in The Last Stand although this time he pays with a rubber band around his wrist while trying to solve the case. At this point I guess I would rather watch a film where Liam Neeson is threatening villains over the phone than actually seeing director Megaton ruining the action by cutting one shot after another every second. Fake Janssen doesn’t get much screen time and I guess she bailed the franchise at the right moment. The villains have no personality whatsoever in this film (which I would argue is the case in the entire franchise, but at least they were threatening the first time around). The screenplay is full of plot holes and in the end you have to go through the tedious explanation of what we already know has happened just in case the audience was stupid and didn’t understand what they saw. But perhaps they did it for those of us who may have fallen asleep during the action scenes because this is by far the longest film in the franchise and you feel it.

My Review: A Walk Among the Tombstones (6/10)

"I do favors for people and in return they give me gifts."

If you go into this film without having seen the trailers you might expect another action vehicle from Liam Neeson, but as soon as this gritty film begins you know you aren't getting your average revenge flick. This is a much darker and gloomy film where the atmosphere and tone take a primary seat in this procedural detective tale. The story is secondary because what really is at the core of this film directed by Scott Frank (The Lookout) is the style. Frank succeeds at setting the eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere of this stylish thriller which will remind audiences of some of Fincher's earlier films. The dark atmosphere will turn off some audiences who were expecting another fun action film because the downbeat tone won't please mainstream audiences. At times the film is much more reminiscent to Neeson's work in The Grey than what he has done lately, but despite the strong performance, the main character of A Walk Among the Tombstones is the city which has been manipulated by Frank to appear gloomy and dark. This is what Frank manages to do best with his film, unfortunately he fails with the story and some of the subplots involved. The pacing begins to drag and the movie feels overlong because despite the somber atmosphere there is not much going on story wise when all the secondary characters and subplots begin to overpopulate the film. Neeson does what it takes to elevate the material when things begin to feel out of place and manages to make this film worth while and engaging. It's too bad Frank wasn't able to trim the subplots down a bit because he had a much better and promising film somewhere along the way. Tombstones does succeed in making the audience feel uncomfortable and it will make most feel a bit undecided as to how they feel about it long after it has ended. I find myself in-between, giving it a positive grade but not as entirely satisfied as I could have been after a promising opening sequence. 

I tend to enjoy Liam Neeson in all of his films so I really don't complain when I go see one of his mind numbing action flicks like Taken because I have a good time with it. In Tombstones he truly shows he has what it takes to undertake stronger and more complex roles. Neeson gives a solid performance once again and the film is worth checking out just for him. Despite being a very different film from his latest action films he does get a scene on the phone once again. No one knows how to threaten people over the phone like Neeson so of course producers couldn't miss the opportunity to have him do it. I don't get tired of it either. The rest of the characters in this film are forgettable considering it centers on Neeson's lonely character in the midst of a corrupted and dark New York City. Having the film set in 1999 along with the downbeat atmosphere constantly reminds the viewer of what is going to happen in the near future. We get a very ugly glimpse of humanity and that is where Frank succeeds because the film never tries to glamorize murders like so many modern films try to do. It doesn't even worry about explaining their motivations, it simply presents this dark atmosphere where there are no other interesting characters than Liam Neeson. The greatest failure of the film is the inclusion of a homeless kid who helps Neeson, but this subplot completely misfires and only makes the film feel more disconnected. Other than those few issues I had with Tombstones I think it is a strong adaptation of one of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder novels. It gets a lot of credit for being able to create such a dark atmosphere.

My Review: Third Person (4/10)

"Watch me."

I know that Paul Haggis is a director that not many people like, but I had enjoyed all of his previous films, and especially was a fan of his most recent one, The Next Three Days. So perhaps my expectations were much higher than the average audience member since I am a defender of his work both as a director and a writer. I know that a lot of people were mixed on the Academy Award winning Crash which surprised everyone when it took the award over Brokeback Mountain, and despite agreeing with most critics that it wasn't one of the best films of the year I still enjoyed it and thought it was a strong directorial debut. He followed his debut with In the Valley of Elah, another engaging film with a powerful performance from Tommy Lee Jones (one that was overlooked considering he was also outstanding that year in No Country for Old Men). So before Third Person everything that Haggis was a part of really caught my attention. As a writer he is credited for the screenplay of such successful films as Casino Royale, Million Dollar Baby, and Letters from Iwo Jima. So when I look back at his filmography I kind of don't understand the hate he receives because there are far more worse directors out there. So I am still going to defend Haggis despite the fact that he has made what is in my opinion his first bad film. His first mistake for this project was trying to repeat the success of Crash by telling a multi strand storyline where characters backgrounds seem to overlap each other. The premise is pretty interesting and gripping at first considering the talented cast involved, but the revelation near the end of the film kind of ruins the entire experience as you can't help but feel Haggis was selling out at the end. The film has several silly revelations that don't seem to work, but what truly hurts this film is the fact that you have a lead character who is basically spelling out the revelations for the audience in case they have missed them. There was no need for this and it only makes you feel as if Haggis doesn't have faith in you to understand what he is trying to say through the themes of the film. He should give the audience more credit and let the story reveal itself without using a character to spell out everything for us. Third Person had a strong start but simply failed to connect the characters in a better way and keep the audience engaged with the premise. Third Person is the first film from Haggis that simply didn't work for me.

What Third Person does have going for it is the strong cast involved. It was a breath of fresh air to see Liam Neeson back in a dramatic role after having seen him in so many action films as of recent (although I do enjoy him as an action star as well). He plays an award winning writer who is working on his next novel and in a way he resembles Haggis himself. He has left his wife (played by Kim Basinger) and is having an affair with a much younger woman named Anna (Olivia Wilde). Olivia Wilde gives a solid performance and despite being a flawed character you believe why these two are together. There are several revelations along the way that don't work too well, but the actors give it their best. The other story involves a character played by Adrien Brody who falls for a mysterious woman in a restaurant in Paris. This story was perhaps the weakest in the film although the audience is always second guessing the intentions of these characters. The third story involves a separated couple played by James Franco and Mila Kunis. Kunis is not allowed to see her son and is trying to find a legal way to get visitation rights, while Franco plays a successful painter who doesn't know how to connect with his child. Kunis gives a strong dramatic performance and she stood out for me. Despite the different story lines there is something they share in common which is revealed over time. These characters are all flawed and are hiding some sort of secret, but in a way they are searching for redemption through each new relationship. The final revelation near the end was the main reason why I was disappointed by the film, and I believe the film's strength relies heavily on the audience's reaction to this reveal. It didn't work for me and that is why my recommendation would be not to "watch me."

My Review: A Million Ways to Die in the West (5/10)

"I'm not the hero. I'm the guy in the crowd making fun of the hero's shirt; that's who I am."

A Million Ways to Die in the West is a comedy that fails at so many levels, but since I had gone into it with low expectations I wasn't really disappointed by it and found some of the scenes extremely funny. On paper this should have been the year's best comedy because it had an excellent cast and an interesting premise. MacFarlane proved he could direct a comedy in the big screen after the success he had with Ted (which I liked, but wasn't blown away by). The first major issue I had with the film was that despite its Western setting it never felt like any of the characters belonged to this world. My second issue was with Seth MacFarlane's performance. He is a funny man, but he is good at writing and doing voice work, not acting, and that was a major flaw in this film because he was one of the main characters and the way he delivered some of the jokes fell flat. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this comedy was that every time they were trying to get the story going and forcing some dialogue scenes they would try to add a poop or fart joke in there somewhere. It was way overdone. I can see how people might have been disappointed with this considering it had so much potential, and despite not liking this film I didn't think it was as terrible as many people claimed because at least it had some funny moments. Still, this is a rotten film and barely enjoyable because it's full of flaws and way too long.

Seth MacFarlane is talented doing voice work and writing some great jokes, but he has some problems with the delivery (something we saw when he hosted the Oscars a couple of years ago). He really hurt this film considering the rest of the cast was pretty funny. Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Charlize Theron, and Liam Neeson all give some funny performances and deliver a few laughs. My favorite moments were definitely the cameos (there were some great ones that had me laughing really hard, but I won't spoil them), and I also enjoyed the surprising death scenes and found them kind of hilarious. Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor, but those scenes worked for me. The rest of the film is just overlong and a bit tedious with several jokes that fall flat, making me feel the same way as the townspeople after hearing MacFarlane trying to deliver jokes and avoid getting killed during the duels: dead silence.

My Review: Non-Stop (6/10)

"We're midway across the Atlantic. How do you kill someone in a crowded plane and get away with it?"

That is the same question I asked myself before going into this new Neeson thriller. The premise sounded a bit silly, but the trailer had me at Liam Neeson. I will watch any action film he stars in nowadays. Neeson plays a very similar character in every one of these films (Taken, Unknown, The Grey) and they simply should've made a franchise with all these movies similar to what they did with James Bond or Mission Impossible so people will stop complaining he plays the same role (and at least this time there is an excuse for his Irish accent). Non-Stop is a fun mindless action film as long as you don't stop and analyze the plot. For the most part it really worked for me because Neeson delivers and keeps your mind off some of the plot holes, but once the final act arrives there is not much he can do to save this film. The final ten minutes are a huge let down and it almost ruined all the fun I was having during the rest of the movie. I still enjoyed this film more than Neeson's previous collaboration with director, Jaume Collet-Serra, Unknown. The cast is strong enough to carry this film past all the plot holes, and I'd rather see Neeson in a mindless action thriller over pretty much any film that has been released this year. 

Non-Stop is John Richardson and Christopher Roach's first film screenplay which stars Liam Neeson as Bill Marks, an air marshall who is going through a depressive and alcoholic stage. What appears to be a routine flight from New York to London ends up being a nightmare for Bill as he begins receiving threatening messages on his secure phone line. The message states that a passenger will die every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars are transferred to a specific bank account. Bill decides to talk to the other air marshall, Hammond (Anson Mount), who tries to calm him down by telling him it has to be a prank. When 20 minutes go by, Bill realizes this is no prank and with very few people on the plane he can trust he has to enlist the help of the flight attendant, Nancy (Michelle Dockery) and the person sitting next to him on the plane, Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), to help him locate who the terrorist might be. 

The premise might be a bit silly, but for the most part I was still enjoying this thriller thanks to the interesting cast. The action scenes were also entertaining and for a movie that takes place almost entirely in a plane it was engaging. If you aren't demanding a film with logic, you might enjoy this mindless action film as much as I did. It's a shame that Lupita Nyong'o didn't get a heavier role because she proved in 12 Years a Slave to be a very talented actress. In this film she doesn't get to do much, but it's OK because we get to see Liam Neeson doing what he does best for most part of this film. The way its audience receives the weak final reveal at the end is probably what makes the difference in this action thriller. It is very far fetched, but as I mentioned above, it is much better than most January or February releases. I enjoyed this film because despite it not making any sense it was still an engaging and fun ride. The truth of the matter is that Neeson is the one that holds this film together and doesn't allow it to crash.

My Review: The LEGO Movie (7/10)

"Let's take extra care to follow the instructions or you'll be put to sleep, and don't forget Taco Tuesday's coming next week."

The directors behind this very creative and imaginative animated film, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street), deliver a highly entertaining and hilarious movie thanks to a sharp script which is packed with extremely funny lines and hundreds of pop culture references. It also benefits from a talented cast who do excellent voice work here. Despite being a film that promotes its very own Lego empire, it still works because it has lots of heart and reaches to kids and adults alike. Kids who are fans of the TV series Ninjago will have a great time with this film, while adults will love the witty script beside the fact that it will touch their nostalgic senses. The Lego movie took me back to my childhood days and reminded me of when I played with these building blocks and invented adventures as I played with them. In a way this film felt like I was watching a very smart and creative kid playing with his Lego figures. I can think of no other movie where you get so many pop cultural references as this one. In what other film do you get to see an NBA star like Shaq share a scene with a Ninja Turtle, Batman, Han Solo, Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Wonder Woman all together? These character cameos keep on coming throughout the film with silly but hilarious and witty one-liners. 

Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) is an ordinary Lego mini-figure who is content with his life following orders from Lord Business (Will Ferrell) as well as most of the other citizens. What they don't know is that Lord Business is planning on gluing their universe together. When Emmet stumbles across a mysterious block he is mistakenly identified as the chosen one and considered to be one of the MasterBuilders called to save the world. He is drafted by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and is introduced to the different Lego universes that Lord Business has been keeping separated. He teams up with other MasterBuilders like Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), and several others all led by the old wise man Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman). Together they begin a quest to stop Lord Business from destroying their worlds, but they have to face fierce opposition from Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) and the rest of the police force who serve Lord Business. A task which Emmet isn't really prepared for as he is simply an ordinary mini figure, but who everyone is depending on to save the world. 

The plot is a little over the top and silly, but it works thanks to some great gags and witty dialogues. The script writers, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Lord, and Miller know their pop culture references and use it to their advantage. It took me a while to get used to the animation style as it was done by using Lego figures in stop motion and combing it with CGI effects. They did paint a colorful and imaginative world and soon I was won over by the style of the film. It's a fast paced movie and one that you will probably have no problem in wanting to go back and rewatching it considering the jokes are so fast paced that you might have missed lots of them.

My Review: Taken 2 (8/10)

¨Listen to me carefully Kim: Your mother is going to be taken, and people are gonna come for you to. ¨

I find it almost impossible not to like a film starring Liam Neeson in this type of role. He is such a great and serious actor, but it´s like these roles were really made for him. I don’t care how stupid the script might have felt, or how poorly edited the action scenes were; I really love Liam Neeson in this role. I think he`s much better than Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, or Daniel Craig in James Bond, or even Matt Damon in the Bourne trilogy. That is how much I like this great actor playing this retired Ex-CIA agent trying to save his family. Taken was one of my favorite films of 2008, I loved everything about that movie. Taken 2 (loved that they stuck with a simple title for the sequel instead of adding something lame after the two may not be as nearly as great as that film was, but it still is a lot of fun and has Liam Neeson doing what he does best. This is a very predictable, formulaic film, but he just makes it that much better. French Director, Olivier Megaton, was fortunate to work with Neeson because without him this movie would´ve been terrible. The action sequences weren’t as cool as his previous film Colombiana (which also got a lift thanks to Zoe Saldana´s performance). The change of director from the first film might not have worked to well, but producer Luc Besson and screenwriter Robert Kamen were back on board. Besson, who directed some great films in the 90´s (Leon being one of my personal favorites) must not like directing very much because he has stuck mostly to producing and writing. He could of done a better job here with the sequel, but I think he was relying heavily on Neeson`s performance, which let’s face it makes this franchise so much better than it really is. I still loved this movie and had a lot of fun despite not being as good as the original.

Former CIA agent, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), succeeded in bringing his daughter back after being kidnapped in Europe, leaving dozens of dead bodies behind. These men were responsible for his daughter`s kidnapping and messed with the wrong person. Some time has passed and Bryan is completely dedicated to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), who he´s trying to help pass the driving test. He´s also a bit obsessive with her new boyfriend, and sometimes goes over the limit when trying to protect her. His ex wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), is going through a separation in her second marriage and Bryan begins to get closer to her. He invites Kim and Lenore to meet up with him in Istanbul for a job which will only take him a few days. What begins like a nice vacation for the family ends up being a nightmare when they discover they are being followed by the father of one of the kidnappers that Bryan killed while rescuing his daughter. Murad (Rade Serbedzija) has sworn revenge for his son´s death and for the death of the rest of the victim’s family who worked with him. This is where the action begins and does not stop up to the very end.

I really do hope this franchise ends here because there is not really much more you can add to this. Taken 2 is not as intense as the original, but it still had me entertained during the full 90 minutes. I might be a little biased because I really like Liam Neeson. I admit the script isn’t as gripping or smart than the original, but it was still inventive enough for us to enjoy a second installment. There are a lot of hugely implausible scenarios, but I tend to be a bit open minded when I go to the movies. I go to be entertained, and that is exactly what I got out of Taken 2. It was really going to be very difficult for this sequel to live up to its predecessor, but it worked quite well for me. I can understand why some people may not have liked this film as much, but for the most part I think that fans of the first film will leave satisfied at the end. It is really a lot of fun.

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My Review: Battleship (5/10)

¨Warning red, weapons tight, I want everything loaded.¨

Battleship has proven that it will be very difficult to compete with the high quality standard that The Avengers left for this year`s Summer movies. Battleship really disappoints although honestly I wasn’t expecting much from the film. There are some good actors in this movie, but the script is just so cheesy that even Liam Neeson looks bad in this. The story has its numbing entertaining moments thanks to all the special effects, but it is just another Transformers 3 all over again (as the trailer proudly announces). Battleship is directed by Peter Berg, the man who brought us The Rundown and Hancock, and who is responsible for the successful TV series Friday Night Lights. He has made some interesting projects in the past, but this film really doesn’t work despite all the great visuals and explosions going on. The greatest problem the film has is the script which was written by Erich and Jon Hoeber who haven’t had success in the past with neither Whiteout nor Red. This move also marks the debut of Rihanna as an actress and she does what she can with the little she was given. Overall this is a forgettable movie and I would rather play the game then watch the film again. Saying that Battleship is based on the Hasbro game is like saying Saving Private Ryan was based on RISK.

Stone (Alexander Skarsgard) and Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) might be brothers, but they are very different. Stone is a Commander in the NAVY, while Alex hasn`t found his calling in life and is sleeping in his brother`s couch. After Alex finds himself in trouble once again Stone decides to enlist him in the NAVY in order for him to mature. Alex becomes a Lieutenant, but is always causing trouble despite his potential, and Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) has already announced that after the Naval war games exercise he will discharge him from the NAVY. Alex also happens to be dating the Admiral`s daughter, Sam (Brooklyn Decker), but can`t find the way to tell him that he is planning on marrying her. Some of the other officers in Stone`s ship are Weps Raikes (Rihanna), The Beast Lynch (John Tui), and Jimmy (Jesse Plemons). During the international war games exercise where fleets from all over the world have come to Hawaii they find themselves threatened by an alien armada invasion. In the line of fire, these men will do what they can to save the world from extinction after the aliens have proven they are here to wipe them out.

The main character in this film is played by Taylor Kitsch, who still hasn’t found his break out performance after the huge John Carter box office failure. He is still mostly known for his role in Friday Night Lights. Alexander Skarsgard is also known for his role in the TV series Trueblood, so there truly isn’t a movie star in this film considering Liam Neeson has a very small role in this. These relatively unknown television actors (unless you’re a fan of either TV series) do what they can with the poor material they were given to work with. They aren`t to blame as to why the movie doesn’t really work. The film takes a while to pick up and there are several unnecessary scenes, like the one where the American NAVY crew is playing soccer against the Japanese; it was just awful. The entire movie felt like a NAVY propaganda telling everyone that if you want to have fun then you should enlist in the NAVY. There isn’t much more to this movie than that so don’t expect too much. This could rank alongside other films with good visuals but no story like Transformers 3 and Battle Los Angeles.

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My Review: The Grey (7/10)

¨Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I'll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day. ¨

Joe Carnahan directed Liam Neeson in 2010 when they worked together in The A-Team, and now they decided to reunite once again in wildlife survivalist movie, The Grey. This is a very different film from the action comedy they made in The A-Team. The Grey is a much darker film that deals with surviving the dangers of the wilderness (in this case surviving a pack of wolves in the winter of Alaska). The film has several flaws and you can find a lot of plot holes in the story`s logic, but I can`t ignore the fact that this movie was entertaining and thrilling. It had me at edge of my seat during several parts of the movie, although I did have some issues with the pacing of the film. There were several unnecessary scenes and dialogues I wished would`ve been cut off. What I did enjoy the most about The Grey is Liam Neeson. He is a true action star and he has proven himself in every film he stars in. You can just put him up against anybody or anything and you can have a decent movie. He is just that good. Ever since Taken, I was blown away with him. If I survived a plane crash and had to fight off a pack of dangerous wolves then I would definitely choose Liam Neeson as my companion. He is a true star and a bankable actor which is hard to find nowadays. Without a very great script, Neeson does the best and gives us an enjoyable movie. There aren`t a lot of good movies that tend to be released in January or February, and this is definitely above average so by all means see this unless you still have a lot of catching up to do with the late 2011 films.

The story focuses on Ottway (Liam Neeson) a hunter who is working for an oil company in the wilderness of Alaska. He isn’t proud of his life or his job. The film begins with a narration of a letter he is writing for his ex wife saying how much he misses her and how he wished he could be with her although it`s not possible any more. He then gets on a plane and while they are flying over Alaska with several other oil workers, the plane crashes. Only seven people survive the crash, and Ottway is among them. The other survivors are Hendrick (Dallas Roberts), Díaz (Frank Grillo), Talget (Dermot Mulroney), Burke (Nonso Anozie), Hernandez (Ben Bray) and Flannery (Joe Anderson). The seven are shaken up by the crash, but Ottway begins showing his leadership qualities by trying to find a way to survive the harsh weather. They soon find out that they aren`t alone when a pack of dangerous wolves who are protecting their territory attack them. The men try to stay together in order to survive the threat. Ottway tells them that they shouldn’t stay put because the wolves will surround them so they begin heading towards the woods. The wolves and the cold weather will put these men`s surviving skills to the test in the middle of the wilderness.

The screenplay was written by director Joe Carnahan along with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers who actually wrote the short story that this film was based on: Ghost Walker. I don’t know if I would’ve been interested in the story if it weren’t for Liam Neeson who made this a much better film than it really would be. He just makes this film so much suspenseful and better. I thought he was just great in the ending, and he just looked so cool and in control the entire time. We may not be able to control the things that happen to us, but we can choose how to face them, and Liam Neeson just does the best he can with the card that are dealt his way. The rest of the characters I could actually care less for. It was actually hard to distinguish who was who at times with all the heavy clothes they were wearing. I also had some trouble figuring out what they were saying at times. The scenery was beautiful, you could actually feel the cold weather penetrating, and the action scenes were ok although they pretty much left everything to your imagination as they cut several things out. The only thing I`m sure of after watching The Grey is that Liam Neeson can make almost any film work if you just let him take control of the film. This is what The Grey does best, it focuses entirely on him and lets him single handedly carry the film. The problem I has with his previous film, Unknown, is that they didn’t let him be in control of everything that was happening. He seemed kind of lost in that film, but here he is just secure and ready to act like in Taken. I really enjoyed this film.

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