Taylor Lautner has the mother of all damned-if-you-do paradoxes hanging over his career: Already widely-known at a comparatively young age and gifted with a presence (that may be too generous of a term) well-suited for action roles… BUT! His said early/instant fame comes from having appeared in the “Twilight” movies – which is exactly the sort of pedigree that the audience a would-be action-star needs to cultivate would hold against him.
Below, the kind of hilarious trailer for his first stab at a solo action career, “Abduction,” which for some reason isn’t getting the sort of point-at-it-and-laugh hype you’d expect so far (and doesn’t seem to have caught the attention of “Twilight” fans, either)…
It’s “The Face On The Milk Carton” meets “The Bourne Identity.” Having heavyweights like Signourney Weaver and Alfred Molina LITERALLY cast as the folks leading him through the movie by the hand is a little on the nose, if you ask me…
I wonder how many people, when this plays in theaters, assume that it’s actually a “Jacob” spin-off before the spy stuff kicks in?
MOVIEBOB CENTRAL 
I agree with your early assessment of this film. I think you hit the nail on the head.
More than anything else, the $40 million budget may be an early indicator of what might be the movie's reception more than anything else. Based purely on the premise and trailer footage, I'm not quite certain whether it seems a bit too high for this caliber of film or too low for what it's trying to aim for.
But eh, not like I'm going to see it anyway, so I honestly don't care all that much.
Thanks for posting this, though. Your observations here are most valued.
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It looks like Kid Indiana Jones for Jason Bourne, its even got that cheesy Michael Bay, Bad Boys 2 epiphany cellphone scene. I will wait till it shows up on Netflix to watch instantly.
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I love how they clearly didn't have a good narratiom for some parts of the trailer and cut together different audio-clips. “he escaped an attack last night. We got 36 hours to find him.
Also, the hitman or whatever he is in the second half, is Swedish actor Mikael Nyqvist, most recently known for his role as Mikel Blomqvist in the “Millennium” trilogy. The role Daniel Craig will be playing in the Hollywood remake. This is the first non-Swedish film I've seen him in. Good to see anyone outside the Skarsgaard family making it in Hollywood
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Oh, this seems kinda la- wait. Directed by John Singleton? Really? Does anyone remember when he made GOOD movies?
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That's not a movie, it's a sodding Apple commercial!
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It's amusing how the only bit of plot that the trailer doesn't make blindingly obvious with completely unsubtle dialogue is anything involving violence, car chases and sex.
Hullo, Jason Isaacs.
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Considering how fantastic Hannah was as a “Jason Bourne as a teenager” film, this has got an awfully high bar to reach. And, after seeing the trailer… I really don't think it does.
I'll probably watch it, but I can't say that I'm excited for it.
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Simple question, does anyone honestly think this will be good? This just seems so half-assed.
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That's some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard in a trailer.
“Whoever these people are, whatever they want, I have to stop them.”
What?
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We're being prepped for a possible deluge of action/romance films with teen protagonists. Hanna (good!) and I Am Number Four (gah) led the pack, but the big test case comes next year.
The Hunger Games books are the best selling series of young adult fiction since Twilight, and the film version is due out next March. (The Hunger Games is basically Battle Royale meets The Running Man, but are actually really good books.) If Hunger Games does well, there are dozens of teen dystopian thrillers with tacked-on romances waiting to be picked up for movie options.
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Ignoring how stupid this movie looks anyway, I will never, ever watch anything that stars Taylor Lautner, or Robert Pattinson, or Kristen Stewart, ever. I don't care that they're not personally responsible for the existence of the Twilight movies, they're still awful actors and they still represent that garbage.
What I find funniest about this trailer is watching Lautner's face as he goes from constant open-mouthed expression of dull surprise to seeing him struggle when he actually tries to convey an emotion.
By the way, what are the odds that the big reveal is that his father turns out to be Alfred Molina?
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I saw a poster or something for this in a theater and assumed it was your typical cut/paste action-espionage thriller. This trailer tells me that this is not completely true, as there is a spin on the idea. I still won't see it, mostly because it doesn't excite me too much, but also due to the stigma of going to see a Taylor Lautner movie that will exist for some time.
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“Not if I find you first”. C'mon really?
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I'm going to keep my expectations low for this one. The trailer kinda catches my eye, but action films with this much hype, such as The Next Three Days or Unknown, always receive poor reception, and that usually makes me weary. Something tells me that this movie has a giant twist and that it will be absurd once it's revealed. If the film doesn't have a twist and is just your straight-forward action flick, then I might as well save it for a rental. Either way, the most I can do is rent it.
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“I wonder how many people, when this plays in theaters, assume that it's actually a “Jacob” spin-off before the spy stuff kicks in?”
I did. The three twilight actors are probably going to have “This person was in Twilight” loom over everything they ever do.
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I commented to my partner when this showed before Captain America, “sooooo, it's Bourne for the Twilight generation?” Haven't seen or read Face on the Milk Carton, but does seem to have been an influence.
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By the way, what are the odds that the big reveal is that his father turns out to be Alfred Molina?
And/or the Sigourney Weaver character is his mom. Count on it.
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1:50
Is that the guy played the villain in Casino Royale? His name escapes me, but I remember his character could cry tears of blood.
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Is there nothing interesting to talk about left? Why would you bring up the existence of this movie?
I mean, I don't think you care. Should we?
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@Arturo
No, that's Miikael Nykvist, Swedish actor, (see my comment above) You're thinking of Mads Mikaelsen, Danish actor.
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It's like the superman effect. This is his secret identity. Only when he takes his shirt off does he become the guy from twilight.
I'm not even kidding, I knew this trailer wasn't for twilight because he had his shirt on.
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