By Troy Ribeiro FILM: Taken 3CAST: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Sam Spruell, Dougray Scott DIRECTION: Olivier Megaton“Somebody murdered your mother in my house. I don’t know who did it or why, but I’ll find out,” Bryan Mills assures his daughter Kim. This forms the crux of Taken 3.Unlike its previous two editions, Taken 3 is a scaled up, reminiscent, action-packed thriller whose premise is loosely based on the 1993-released Harrison Ford starrer The Fugitive.Set in Los Angeles, deadly ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) returns as a doting father to his now grown-up daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). He soon learns from his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is married to a multi-businessman Stuart (Dougray Scott), that she still fantasises about him and is considering reconciliation.But then their dreams are short-lived when Lenore gets brutally murdered and Bryan is framed for her death.The turn of events as well as the characterisation is predictable and lackadaisical. There are a couple of “plot-holes” and unconvincing scenes that make the narrative appear weak. That is also why the actors fail to deliver.The ageing Liam Neeson, though charming, does not elevate his character of the anguished superhero. His expressions are perfunctory, actions mechanical and speech on a low-note hollow, sounds superficial at times.On the other hand, Forest Whitaker is lively as the bagel-munching detective Frank Dotzler, who is in awe of Bryan’s impressive skills. Dougray Scott, who has replaced Xander Berkeley from the earlier edition and Sam Spruell, who plays the Russian Gangster Oleg Malankov are the new entrants. They are quite noticeable among the supporting cast as there is not much complexity in the character development.Visually, the plethora of impressive day and night aerial shots, gives the film a superior feel. The background score is perfect except for a random Hindi song in one of the scenes. That score is unwarranted to the script and sounds illogical in the narrative. With the inclusion of this number, it is but obvious that director Olivier Megaton along with his producers, is trying to please a global audience. - IANSA triumph-over-tragedy sagaBy Betsy SharkeyFILM: The Good LieCAST: Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel JalDIRECTION: Philippe FalardeauSmall deceptions for the greater good are at the heart of The Good Lie, which is about a handful of Sudanese “lost boys” who were resettled in the US. The most obvious deception is the notion that Reese Witherspoon is the star.The Oscar-winning actress is a minor player on-screen, a major player off when it comes to attracting audiences that might not otherwise come in the door.Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany and Emmanuel Jal are the film’s real anchors, all with their own very real survivor stories that most certainly help inform this fictional piece — Duany and Jal were among the child soldiers forced to fight in Sudan; Oceng’s father was killed in the war.But rather than the horrors of that war, The Good Lie is a triumph-over-tragedy saga that focuses far more on hope.Credit director Philippe Falardeau for his determination to keep the Sudanese influence embedded throughout Margaret Nagle’s script, which was inspired by news reports, books and her own interviews with refugees.Falardeau, the writer-director of the Oscar-nominated foreign language film of a few years ago Monsieur Lazhar, a very different sort of immigrant story, went to great lengths to fill the cast with Sudanese. In that he has done well. There is an old-fashioned charm in the film’s straightforward simplicity.The story opens in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp in the 1990s as four Sudanese get ready to board a plane for the US as part of a humanitarian initiative that resettled 3,600 in the United States. They came to be called “the lost boys”.The film’s tight-knit group is led by Mamere (Oceng as the adult). He is the de facto chief after a series of losses, including his older brother Theo (Femi Oguns), who was taken by soldiers. Abital is his sister (Kuoth Wiel playing the older girl). Paul (Jal) and Jeremiah (Duany) are brothers in heart, Paul a boy from their village, Jeremiah met along the way.As Carrie, the employment agent trying to find jobs for three of the refugees in Kansas City, Witherspoon dials it down nicely in the film and in the story just enough to make a difference.The film shifts quickly back to the beginnings, when the refugees were children. Young Theo (Okwar Jale), Mamere (Peterdeng Mongok), Abital (Keji Jale), Paul (Deng Ajuet) and a few others are in the fields watching the cattle when troops storm their village, killing everyone else. The children follow the teaching of their elders and head for the refugee camps on foot, first Ethiopia, then Kenya.Though the journey is marked by hardship and death, the film steps lightly around scenes of the civil war’s notorious, horrific brutality. —Los Angeles Times/TNSDVD courtesy: Kings Electronics, DohaFight over treasureBy Troy Ribeiro Film: Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five ArmiesCAST: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavishDIRECTION: Peter JacksonDisappointing! Unfortunately, that is the first and only reaction that is spontaneously evoked after seeing this film which is dished out by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson.Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies, his sixth film and the last of the Hobbit trilogy, offers nothing exceptional other than prolonged battle scenes with no real trajectory.If the first two instalments of The Hobbit were visually splendid with optimistically exciting adventure, this one clearly lacks in that arena. Who can forget those opus packed editions with dollops of action scenes that included fights, chases and romance? The film takes off from its last edition, The Desolution of Smaug, and hits the crux head on. Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), the dragon, unleashes his wrath on Lake-town after been “woken”.Now that Throin (Richard Armitage), the king of the dwarfs has reclaimed his land, the Lonely Mountain, from Smaug, he finds himself suffering from “dragon sickness”, which means that like the dragon, he too is attracted to the treasures. But then, he’s not the only one.There are other claimants for this treasure too, which include the Iron Hills dwarfs commanded by General Dain Ironfoot (Billy Connolly), Woodland Elves led by Thranduil (Lee Pace) and the displaced people of Lake-town who are half-heartedly garnered by the dragon slaying boat captain Bard (Luke Evans).In the meantime, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) has identified the evil Necromancer as Sauron, who has returned to Middle Earth and ordered countless Orcs to attack the Lonely Mountain.The five armies — humans, elves, dwarfs, orcs, and eagles — are fighting over the treasure in the mountain and the outcome is obvious. The screenplay, based on the novel by JRR Tolkein, seems forced and obligatory with few faintly stunning strains of exciting action and humour that are sporadically strewn in. -IANSDVDs courtesy: Saqr Entertainment Stores, Doha