‘Abduction’ Movie Review sponsored by UltraStar Cinemas

In the new action thriller, “Abduction,” the filmmaker’s attempt at remaking the ‘Bourne Identity’ series into a teenage angst fest, is only mildly successful.  Director of “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Four Brothers”, John Singleton’s latest film takes bits and pieces from past successful movies, including its male-lead, Taylor Lautner’s role in “Twilight”, and meshes them together to give audiences a precocious picture of what it is like to find your true identity while, appropriately enough, as a young adult.

Though, ironically, these themes of finding your identity and teenage angst are nearly synonymous, the obvious juxtaposition isn’t enough to produce an engaging film.  “Abduction” on so many levels focuses on the mediocre.  While infinitesimal topics get mentioned like the importance of Facebook to a young teen, this overall approach detracts from the real action of the story.  And this makes for stiff gestures, acting that dragged, and dialogue that stifled great talents like Sigourney Weaver, who appears in the film as Nathan’s psychologist.

To get the overall sense of the story, we meet Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) very early on.  The opening scene is of a cliff-hanger shot as Harper rides shotgun atop the windshield of a truck.  His friends are both maneuvering the wheel with one hand and wildly cheering their friend on with the other.  Cut-scene and we are abruptly placed at a house-party that soon gets out of control, leaving Harper in his underwear on someone’s lawn the next morning (one of many tributes to Team Jacob-fans everywhere).

Harper’s father finds him in this inebriated state and immediately dashes him home to start grilling him on his fighting/boxing/karate skills.  Then, time for school.  As the lengthy school day yawns ahead, we find out that Lautner has a crush on Karen Murphy, played by Lily Collins.  When the two get assigned as partners for a school project, little do they realize that this ‘partnership’ will undergo many trials and tribulations before real trust gets earned.

And because so much of “Abduction” hinges on this idea that you can’t just trust anybody makes for a dubious premise for an action-thriller.  Like an after-school special caked with special messages, you can’t help but think that Hollywood needs to be a little more creative if they want to convince adults as well as teens that this isn’t dumbed-down material.

This review also includes the D-box Motion Seats experience, an enjoyable rollercoaster-ish ride that when paired with the movie made for a very realistic approach to experiencing film.  Scenes like the one where we find Nathan lodged on the windshield as the car eases down a sharp incline, the extreme vertigo that you get to feel is very real.  And other scenes like the ones that have Lautner and Collins on a train makes you feel like you are in the film, experiencing every bump and ebb of the train ride.  Available at all Ultra Star Cinemas, but only for select films, make sure you reserve your seats today.

Brought to you by UltraStar Cinemas

UltraStar Cinemas’ DBox seat features were a fantastic addition to the film.  The DBox seats make the audiences feel as if they are in the middle of all the action.

Seats vibrate to make you feel the full power of the films. The seats make you feel as you too are with the characters in everything they do.

They are reserved in the middle of the theater room surrounded by regular seats for those who choose to watch the film in the non-DBox format. Each one has a setting for the viewer to choose their preference of the seats’ motion effects as well.

Ultra Star Cinemas is headquartered in San Diego County and operates 141 screens at 14 sites throughout Southern California and Arizona. The company was formed in 1999 by John Ellison, Jr.and Alan Grossberg with the same goal in mind – be a pioneer in the industry and consistently stay onthe forefront of technology, while providing the best movie-going experience to every guest that walksthrough the doors.

UltraStar was the first exhibitor in the world to be equipped with D-BOX Motion Seats. D-BOX Technologies uses motion integrated within theater seats to capture some of the best action scenes in all types of movies. Feeling the action immerses the guest in the movie like never before.

Photo Courtesy of nxusco via Flickr