Abduction (12A)

Time Out says

Tue Sep 27 2011

Imagine ‘Transformers’ without the Transformers, and that’s ‘Abduction’, a production-line tween thriller from once promising director John Singleton (‘Boyz n the Hood’). It stars Taylor Lautner (pictured), the rippling, dead-eyed mannequin who made his mark in the ‘Twilight’ films and whose inspiration seems to be the young Schwarzenegger. He’s a dirtbike-riding, beer-chugging, mixed-martial artist bad boy of suburban Pittsburgh, and then one evening, while surfing abduction websites (as you do), he spots a picture of his younger self. Next thing he knows, there are gun-toting hoods at his door threatening to kill all his Facebook friends, so it’s a big ol’ cross-country chase to find his real identity, with the cheerleader from across the street in tow. While the ultra-banal dialogue draws the occasional titter, the action scenes are tame and it’s rife with plot holes that you could navigate a burning blimp through.

Author: David Jenkins