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".
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".