Abduction

Hunky Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner stars as Nathan, a popular high school senior who mysteriously sees his picture on a missing-child website. After goons break into his home and kill his “parents,” Nathan finds himself in all sorts of danger as he and pretty classmate Karen (Lily Collins) race around to uncover the secret of his real past while being pursued by police, government agents, and nefarious international arms dealers. An old hand at frenetic action, director John Singleton has set up quite an endurance test for the young star: a prolonged fight against a Serbian thug on a train and a long slide down a plastic ramp at the home stadium of the Pittsburgh Pirates are only two of the more eye-catching set-pieces that show off Lautner's physical prowess. Unfortunately, even though the movie is visually slick, it's also so astoundingly silly and rife with clichéd dialogue that most viewers will wind up suppressing chuckles. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)