Abduction

Abduction – When researching missing children for a school project, Nathan Harper and his friend Karen come across a website which uses age-progression technology to see what a child would look like as an adult. Coming across a photo that looks remarkably like himself, Nathan realises that the people who raised him aren’t actually his parents. After his family home is attacked, he and Karen must go on the run in order to stay alive and find out the truth of his past.

Abduction (2011) – Director: John Singleton

Rating: 12

Running Length: 106 mins

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina

Genre: Action, Thriller

REVIEW: ABDUCTION

Fresh from his success as a teen heart-throb ‘Jacob’ in the ‘Twilight’ movies, Taylor Lautner is the action hero in his own movie rather than being the third wheel of a love triangle. While the role isn’t too challenging, it’s good to see that he is able to carry a movie by himself and that he can develop a character from typical teen to mature young adult.  With some big names in the supporting cast (for example Sigourney Weaver and Alfred Molina), it would have been easy for Lautner to have simply faded into the background. Thankfully he manages to hold his own and comes across well as an intelligent teenager who isn’t as out of his depth as he could have been thanks to the training that his adoptive father gave him while he was growing up.

While the movie itself is perfectly watchable, there’s no getting away from the fact that it is most definitely a ‘teen’ action film. It will be very enjoyable to both Lautner fans and teenage action fans. More seasoned fans of the action genre may be left wanting more and may find Lautner as a lead rather dull but that isn’t to say that anyone stumbling across this movie or watching it with older children or teenage offspring will dislike it. There are a few plot threads which aren’t fully explained or explored which makes the movie seem to be a rather overly ambitious undertaking, however ‘Abuction’ is a rare, well-paced teen movie which is both entertaining and exciting.

CONTENT: IS ‘ABDUCTION’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie starts with Nathan riding on the front of a friend’s car. He is laughing and clearly having a great deal of fun while his friends are as equally excited and cheer him on. The car moves fast along the roads and, when it comes to a relatively rapid stop, Nathan is thrown forward onto the ground but doesn’t come to any harm. Soon afterwards, Nathan and some friends discuss buying fake ID’s and say ‘let’s go get drunk’, the implication clearly being that they are drinking underage. As both of these activities seem like a lot of fun and likely to make you very popular, they may be appealing to impressionable young people who might copy this behaviour.

There are a few violent moments that may be a little distressing for younger children. After Nathan’s drunken escapade, his father forces him to fight with him at home. He is very aggressive towards Nathan and punches and kicks him several times. Later, Nathan is describing a recurring dream that he has where as a child, he is hiding under a bed and sees a woman attacked by a man in a gas mask. While the images of the description are done with quick camera cuts, the woman is seen to be held down on the floor, punched and her body then goes limp. There is also a rather brutal fight scene on a train around two-thirds of the way through the movie which involves lots of heavy punches and kicks as well as the fighters throwing each other into walls. Before this fight starts, a young woman is threatened with having her finger chopped off. Another scene shows several people being shot and killed. There is no blood but one is shot in the throat and gags for a couple of seconds before falling to the ground.

As might be expected from a ‘teen’ movie, there is some moderate cursing which, while not being too excessive, is unavoidable. One strong word is used and phrases such as ‘I’m a virgin’ and ‘grow a pair’ are used occasionally. There is also a scene where a male and female character kiss passionately. The male character squeezes the girl’s behind and pushes her against a wall as they begin to remove their clothes. He lifts her up and she puts her legs around his waist, however she stops him before anything explicit happens and they are still both fully clothed.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘ABDUCTION’ FOR KIDS?

‘Abduction’ is an entertaining teen movie which has plenty of energy and action to keep its target audience enthralled. It isn’t a movie for adults as such but the entertainment value is high and it does not lose its way from its roots as an action film. As there are several teenage themes and the violence is quite adult in nature, we would not recommend this movie for children under 10 and would advise caution for those between the ages of 10 and 12.

• Violence: 3/5 (minimal blood or gore but the violence is very realistic; people are seen to be shot, stabbed and blown up)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (several characters who Nathan is close to are killed and he briefly mourns for them before having to deal with his desperate situation, an exchange between Nathan and another character at the end is a little touching)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the scene where Nathan realises that the people who have raised him are not his parents and may have abducted him as a child is a little suspenseful)
• Sexual Content: 3/5
• Bad Language: 3/5
• Dialogue: 3/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of family, finding out the truth of your past, knowing who to trust, protecting those you care about and facing responsibility.

Words by Laura Record