Let's review.

(Quoting from my IMDb reviews of the first two) Taken 1 was one of those unexpected surprises that keeps the wheels in Tinseltown turning. It turned Neeson, a very competent actor, into filmdom's oldest and newest action hero. A neat trick. It was actually a very well made product and even with all the attention, still under-rated. It was better than people thought.

OK, to be clear. Neeson was not getting any younger and when offered Taken 2, he took it. Sorry for the pun. Taken 2 was not so much a film as an IQ test. If you thought it was in the same class as Taken 1, you failed the test. Sorry. The truth hurts.

To atone for Taken 2, Neeson did the Tombstone flic. It was great and showed the world he was still an A-list actor. Apology accepted.

Hollywood never ever leaves money on the table. Which brings us to Taken 3. Not really a Taken movie, more of what you would expect if they wanted to do a TV series on the Neeson character and they started with a long pilot.

It is much better than Taken 2 but then again so is footage of your dog's birthday party.

It is not bad. Depends on your expectations.

High expectations, you will not be happy.

Bored and want to spend time with Liam?You could do worse.

Spectacular and moving following starred by the retired CIA operative Mills (Liam Neeson) with plenty of action-packed , thrills , suspense , violence and high body-count . This is a nice sequel released six years after the first , here Liam Neeson returns as ex-covert operative Bryan Mills, whose long awaited reconciliation with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen married to financer Stuart St. John : Dougray Scott ) is tragically cut short when she is brutally murdered . Consumed with rage, and framed for the crime, he goes on the run to evade the relentless pursuit of the CIA, FBI and the police (law enforcement : Forest Whitaker , Don Harvey , Dylan Bruno) . For one last time, Mills must use his "particular set of skills," to track down the real killers, exact his unique brand of justice, and protect the only thing that matters to him now - his daughter. Meanwhile , his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is pregnant and really affected for the killing . Shortly after , Mills is rescuing his daughter from the vicious killers . Then , Bryan enlists his daughter to help him and attempts to clear his name and he swears revenge and retaliation against the murdererers . He confronts his nasty enemies in order to find it out and is forced to once again take up violent means to survive . Mills takes the law on his own hands and acting as a merciless revenger . As he faces off a feared villian called Oleg Malinkov (Sam Spruell) , an ex-soldier who was in the Russian army when they invaded Afghanistan . First, they took his daughter. Now, they're coming for him. It Ends Here. They want revenge, They chose the wrong guy. This time, they come for him.

Nail-biting and extremely violent film with a phenomenal Liam Neeson as an implacable avenger daddy .This stirring film contains intrigue , thrills, chills, frenetic action, shootouts , long run time car pursuits , car crashes , and violent fights . From start to finish the noisy action and fast movement are unstopped . Liam Neeson acting as hard-rock , two-fisted retired agent is top-notch , doing all his own fight sequences for the movie , he is the wronged father who must lay his life on the line to protect his intimate family against time and an army of ominous Russian mobsters . Being well accompanied by Maggie Grace as daughter and Famke Janssen in a brief acting as his ex-wife , repeating efficiently their previous roles . Secondary cast is frankly good, such as : Forest Whitaker , Dougray Scott , Sam Spruell , Don Harvey ,David Warshofsky , Jon Gries , and Leland Orser , among others . Nice cinematography by cameraman Eric Kress , using Steadicam and zooms with numerous locations from Los Angeles . The musician Nathaniel Mechaly creates a thrilling , moving soundtrack fitting to frantic action . Lavishly produced by the successful French producer and director Luc Besson from his production company Eurocorps . The trilogy is formed by ¨Taken 1¨ (2008) by Pierre Morel with Maggie Grace , Xander Berkeley , Holy Valance , Katie Cassidy ; in which a gang of human traffickers abduct Kim who barely has time to call her dad and give him information about an Albanese kidnapper and then Bryan seeks vendetta . ¨Taken 2¨ (2012) by Oliver Megathon with D.B. Sweeney ,Luke Grimes , Jon Gries , Rade Serbedzija , set in Istanbul in which Bryan and Lenore are abducted by the Albanian father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter. And this final "Taken 3" movie in the trilogy, at least this is what is expected at the time of production and release . This trilogy was shot as an R-rated film, but edited down to a PG-13 for its theatrical reléase .

The flick was compellingly directed by Oliver Meghaton who had previously directed other nice action films, such as ¨Taken 2¨, ¨Transporter 3¨ with Jason Statham , ¨The red siren¨ with Asia Argento and ¨Colombiana¨ with Zoe Saldana , also produced by Luc Besson . Megaton was formerly a graffiti artist and took his name from his birthday : the 6th of August 1965 is the 20th anniversary of the dropping of the Hiroshima A-bomb . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average sequel , well worth seeing . The picture will appeal to explosive action fans and Liam Neeson fans .

Taken 3 is a step down from Taken 2, itself a lesser film than the original. But that is to be expected and forgiven. The title could be considered an unimaginative misnomer, but it makes marketing sense.

Aside from the part of Stuart (husband to Famke Janssen's Lenore), the casting is consistent. The addition of Forest Whitaker as a smart cop is for me something of a saving grace since Taken 3 offers up absurdities without question. On reflection, however, the plot has enough coherence to do the trilogy justice. Moreover, it is a joy to see Liam Neeson in this role again.

The director Olivier Megaton has an irksome penchant for frenetic, up-close, disorienting action sequences whereby shots are rarely longer than two seconds. He was a little better in this regard for Taken 2, which had the benefit of superior choreography.

Another personal point of contention is the casting of Sam Spruell as the top Russian villain. He has not an imposing physical constitution and quite frankly brings to mind Jim Carrey, who sported the same haircut in the Dumb and Dumber movies. Not at all what I want in a villain.

I generally enjoy the films I see, and this one—notwithstanding the negatives—is no exception. However, I would not recommend it for people who are more stern in matters of taste.