Abduction doesn’t seem quite the right title for this movie — nobody in it is abducted. But maybe it’s a manoeuvre to put potential viewers off track, to allow them to be surprised by how it pans out.
Then again, an enterprising internet reviewer has already reviewed the trailer, and based on that is able to make some sensible deductions about what might be really going on in Abduction. Only a guess about the protagonist’s having perhaps been subjected to “some kind of genetic engineering as a baby” is terribly wide of the mark.
The site is called The Spoiler-Free Movie Review, which is comforting in that spoilers are such a no-no, but it’s also weird if the review in question is that of a trailer and not the film itself. Despite the usual join-the-dots nature of trailer information, and the way they often give viewers a quick summary of the whole film rather than just a teaser, you don’t expect them to pre-empt anything that’s meant to be a “big reveal”, as such things are called.
In any case, the plot of Abduction goes — or at least begins — like this. Taylor Lautner, who was a hunky little werewolf in the Twilight franchise, plays schoolboy Nathan. He and classmate Karen (Lily Collins), who lives just over the road and with whom he, naturally, has been in love since primary school, are assigned a project that requires them to do some internet research. There, they find the picture of a child who has been missing for about 15 years — and who looks an awful lot like Nathan.
This, of course, gets Nathan worried and wondering. He will have to ask his parents (Maria Bello and Jason Isaacs) some awkward questions. After he’s finished having a little weep, that is. But barely has he confronted mom when two mysterious agents invade the house —
Thereafter, we’re in action territory, with exciting chases, Nathan and Karen on the run, last-minute rescues, competing law-enforcement agencies, betrayals and so forth.
Too spoiler heavy
Anything more specifically descriptive would be too spoiler-heavy, though The Spoiler-Free Movie Review is able to provide several. I, not having seen the trailer, enjoyed what surprises were to be had in the movie.
It is fairly enjoyable and thrilling, with Lautner proving to be a serviceable action star. He even looks a bit like Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, whom I was expecting to turn up at any minute to announce: “Nathan, I am your father —”
Lautner’s no great actor, with a fairly limited repertoire of facial expressions; he is hampered, it seems, by what appears to be too small a space between his eyebrows and his eyes, as well as an oddly shaped little mouth that makes most of his attempts at smiling look like he’s baring his upper teeth. All good for a junior werewolf, no doubt, but not quite enough for a real movie role. Still, he does the job energetically enough, and his teen angst is certainly convincing.
He also gets his shirt off within the first 10 minutes of the movie, so he’s in touch with his demographic.
The supporting cast is solid, with the aforementioed Bello and Isaacs as well as Alfred Molina and Sigourney Weaver to help give the movie some characterological depth. Michael Nyquist, whose face will be well remembered from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels, turns up as an icy villain, a role to which he seems to take naturally.
But these are all quasi-parental roles (good parent, bad parent … ), and the focus is really on the youngsters. Which makes this a date movie for teens: it’s got cute Lautner for the girls, some action for the boys, and … well, that’s it, really.