Taken 3, or Tak3n (or whatever name they’ve given it) would be more appropriate to call it The Next Liam Neeson Action Movie. Neeson only agreed to return to conclude the trilogy under the condition no one is taken in this one, so in this latest instalment the story is similar to many of the cat-and-mouse type of suspenseful action movies of the last few decades – like The Fugitive. In this iteration, Bryan Mills (Neeson) is once again on the hunt for revenge after his wife, played by Famke Janssen, is murdered (or maybe taken?) and he has been setup as the killer.

In contrast to the European setting of the last two Taken movies, this is set in Los Angeles(not that you could forget thanks to the relentless establishing shots and cutaways of the city’s skyline). Mills is able to enlist the help of his former retired spies in his pursuit for redemption and the truth, all while evading the wily and intelligent detective Franck Dotzler (Forest Whitaker) who we know will never even come close to catching him. Simultaneously Bryan is also trying to protect his daughter, Kim, who is again at risk of being taken herself, or worse, killed.

Avoiding the constabulary is only the beginning. The real baddies in this film are the standard action movie villains. They’re an angry, muscly tattooed collection of Russians, who are as ruthless as they are alcoholic. It’s a tired method, but one that helps establish the ‘bad guys’ early in the film.

This film is directed by Oliver Megaton – the same director as the last instalment. Yet, weirdly, it is considerably less violent flows differently to the previous in the series. In many ways it feels like a reboot of the continuing story, despite the ‘It Ends Here’ tagline on the poster. In one way that is refreshing, but Taken purists (if such a thing exists) may be left disappointed at the end of the 109 minutes.

However, in the glass-half-full mentality, as a standalone Next Liam Neeson Action Movie it’s a very entertaining. Taken 3 is well shot and, daresay, a well-acted film. The dialogue is punchy and the mood is always tense (albeit with some blockbuster clichés). Liam Neeson can sell Bryan Mills no matter the movie – he could be teaching Harry Potter spells at Hogwarts and I’d believe it – and it is for him that this film is worth the price of admission.

Taken 3 is playing at Palace Electric Cinemas, New Acton and theatres across Canberra.