the audience applauded

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Geez! where should i start?I thought i was watching a soap opera or a romance developing in the beginning of this movie.Hard to believe the calm demeanor of these 2 parents that realized their girls were both kidnapped and missing.The mother barely showed any emotion other than flirting with both her partner and the ambassador which was ridiculous after finding out your daughter is missing,or possibly dead.I was in a state of LIKE SERIOUSLY? when both women decided to confront and chase after these dangerous kidnappers and mobsters on their own using their sexuality to approach more than one situation.I was already bored half way through it.Who in the world would believe that this one woman can go hunt down such dangerous people and investigate mostly on her own. The ambassador's daughter was taken along with her daughter and this one woman along with the security watch woman that usually watches the girls,but conveniently had the night off are suppose to somehow kick ass and find a way to trace the girls whereabouts.Totally delusional plot and story line.Again i will say,i have never seen a mother more at peace and relaxed about her daughter missing,then for some moments into the show the actual Russian police, who we all know would never allow a woman to call the shots,let alone have a gun running around seeking her own justice.I mean really?The police are usually corrupt and on the inside of these type of crimes,kidnappings and trafficking women for a monetary fee themselves to look the other way.Anyway,the police finally joins this woman to search while the other woman security assist her as well, to find the girls.These two women threw me off during time spent together with the almost sensual energy and chemistry between them both. Anyhow,they join forces to find the girls.She finds her daughter,then,if you can believe she still feels she needs to risk her life even more and decide to be in pursuit of the ambassador's daughter who was sold.I mean Get real! But like i said,the affection between these two women i did not at all understand it.They were both too cozy and comfortable with each other for having just met,so in my opinion,this was someone's dawg gawn fantasy.I barely call movies stupid,but it was NOT at all worth me watching.It was not realistic,but perhaps it was not made to be,but even worst,the actors simply can't act.It was poor acting,especially the lead actress.I wont even bother to mention the ending,because it's not even worthy of being mentioned.

The Russians got more than they bargained for when the daughter of the American Ambassador goes with a friend on spring break to Russia. Both quickly fall victim to a slave trafficking group with ties all over the world.Sophie's mother is a widowed police officer who doesn't know how to take no for an answer. She quickly runs off to Russia to pursue her daughter's captors and in the process uncovers a major officer involved in this slave group and teaches the Russians something about policing policies.This is a fast-paced action thriller again showing the determination of a mother to free her daughter. She was even better than American officials.The movie, based on true facts, teaches us that slave trafficking is alive and well throughout the globe.

First, let's talk about the 'Inspired by a True Story'. It is something that I wish the movie industry would monitor. The simple fact is that just about anything could be based or inspired by a true story. The Brady Bunch could be based on a true story because somewhere out there (many places), somebody with children married somebody else with children.Jaws was based on a True Story. So, was Shawshank Redemption, A Few Good Men, etc. etc. Only the degree to which these movies are based on a true story varies.Regarding the movie, it was somewhat intriguing. I cannot say that I not found myself waiting for it to end, which means I liked it somewhat. I was kind of similar to the original 'Taken' with Liam Neison.The factor I disliked the most was its political correctness. Some people may debate this, but you have a bad ass girl going into a foreign country (Russia, no less) and for the most part dictating to their police force how things were going to go down. I think it was part of the movies' message that thousands of women are trafficked every year, and "we are going to show the world that not only is that wrong, but we will also show them just how tough women can be."It is certainly tragic what goes on with trafficking. I do not need to reminded through political innuendo that guys are the culprits (we all know that). The message of 'don't mess with women' was too much over the top.

I just saw this film on Lifetime. Not only is the title, but practically every single element of the original script of Taken is used in this one. I'm not saying it's without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. It's supposed to be set in Moscow, however the filming location is Sofia, Bulgaria, so if you're not familiar with that part of the world (I am) you probably won't notice the difference. Where to begin. At the beginning of Sophie's trip to Moscow her mother Stevie asked if she has her passport. Actually for an American to go to Moscow you need more than a passport, you need a visa. We get the relationship thingy between Stevie (Julie Benz), an FBI agent scared of commitment after her husband died (sound familiar?) and Devlin. Anyway, Sophie and her friend Janie, daughter of the US Ambassador to Russia, arrive and are restricted to the US Embassy, so sneak out for one night on the town, and...wait for it....they are taken. From there the script follows the original Taken pretty much verbatim, except it's Russia, not France, and it's Chechen Mafia (writers obviously threw in that due to the Boston bombing), not Albanian one.So two women, Stevie, and fellow leather jacket wearing CIA agent find the spotter, Bobby, use cell phones to trace the two abductees, and zero dark thirty their way out of that hellhole. Sound familiar?At the end it says 46,000 people have been victims of sex trafficking this year. I can guarantee you none of them were the daughter of the US Ambassador to Russia...or any other country for that matter. As with the original, and better but still ridiculous film Taken, abducting American girls on vacation in European countries is not just uncommon, but extremely unlikely, at least for daughters of FBI agents and US Ambassadors. Finally I'd like to address the marketing strategy "Inspired by a true story". What has been pointed out already is this most likely refers to the fact that somewhere in the world as some time, someone was abducted by sex traffickers....unless they're referring to the Cleveland thing, but Julie Benz isn't quite Charles Ramsey, and definitely not Liam Neeson. Anyway, it's not a total throw away, as it's worth watching on some level, if only to see a little bit of Sofia, Bulgaria (even though it's supposed to be Moscow). The only thing that would've made this good is if at the end Stevie would end with this line: "I feel like Liam Neeson in Taken".