Taken Heart

Canadian actress Gina Holden is both gorgeous and game, but neither quality will suffice to save this sodden, dull, misfit of a film.

From a production company that almost single-handedly manages to commoditize B-movies as if they came off a conveyor belt (Jeepers Creepers 3, Nightmare Nurse) we have something which, once upon a time, scrawled on a napkin in the back of a bar, must have seemed really clever.

"Let's do a version of Taken with a female lead!" someone said, then someone else agreed, then a third person raised the cash ... and here we are.

The best sequence is the first 4 minutes, which does a pretty good job of establishing Holden's character as a tough female cop who is not afraid of violence.

Would that we could say the same about the screenwriters, because, after that solid opening, the film chugs along for almost a full hour before we see even a hint of action; and when we finally do, it is too little, too late.

Recommended? No, thank you.