Abduction 2011

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: As an action star, Lautner handles himself reasonably well. He has a bit too much of a boy-band singer look to him, but he's likeable and the major deficiency of "Abduction" isn't his. It's the script. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The movie is a more objective opportunity to assess Lautner's potential as a general-purpose action hero once his emo-goth run wraps. You might not want to go betting on that one. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: To give Mr. Lautner his due, he is a martial-arts dervish with perfectly sculptured abs. His acting, however, is another matter. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Twi-Hards shall attend en masse. Adults shall roll their eyes. And on our human comedy shall go. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Filled with laughable dialogue, Abduction goes nowhere. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Singleton once radiated ambition and vision. These days, he seems to be aiming for mediocrity at best. Even by those extraordinarily lenient standards, the inessential, perfunctory Abduction falls short. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: "Abduction" falls in the same corner of the youth market as the "Twilight" movies. Some moments and many lines feel cribbed from that series. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: [Lautner's] not a terrible actor, but if he wants a career after the Twilight fades, he'll pick better films. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Taylor Lautner tries to hold his own in an action thriller too silly to give him much of a chance. Read more

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: "Abduction" is just the third movie John Singleton has directed in the past decade, and it contains neither the passion nor the competence of his two previous genre efforts - "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Four Brothers." Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Why, for his first theatrical job in six years, is Singleton - who has a busy producing career on the side - directing this? The film has a decent budget (and hints, desperately, at sequels). But a Taylor Lautner teen-spy movie? Really? Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A ridiculously cheesy confection filled with unthrilling thrills, bored-looking adults and a comically overstuffed backstory. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Actual abduction may be preferable to the movie of the same name, but only if your kidnappers don't torture you by forcing you to watch it. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Perhaps the only way to approach Abduction that will not result in a 105-minute boredom-induced coma is to think of it as a comedy, preferably with a drinking game attached. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Sadly, it's impossible to fake the faintest enthusiasm for this picture, which is a fourth-rate Hollywood thriller that bungles a lot of thievery from better movies. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Whether the fault was haste or cynicism, Abduction feels like a movie designed to ride on the back of Twilight's phenomenal success, with held noses and paycheques all around. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It's too early in Lautner's career to judge whether he's going to blossom from box-of-kittens-adorable teen dream to actual actor, but movies as wispy as Abduction aren't going to help him get there. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: 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. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: A haggardly slapdash Bourne Identity knockoff, never rising above the level of basic competence. Read more

Benjamin Mercer, Village Voice: A blockhead espionage thriller from director-for-hire John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood). Read more