Kidnap

First off, let me just say that I can rarely be bothered to write reviews on here. The only reason I decided to was due to: 1) lack of reviews, and most importantly 2) the very few reviews that have been posted here are so incomprehensively negative that the only explanation I can come up with was that they had to be shills (which is surprising to me, as most 'shills' on IMDb are only here to artificially increase a film's positive reviews).

That being said, I found these these first two negative reviews utterly baffling. Now I'm no expert film critic, but movies are my number one passion in life. As such, I've seen so many that I've literally arrived to the point where I'm thoroughly jaded...so much so that most everything that I've seen usually leaves me both bored and uninterested, or at best, mildly amused. Now that I've had my mini-rant, I'll continue on with my review.

As the title of the film implies, the story is as basic as it gets: a mother's son gets kidnapped, and said mother stops at nothing to get him back. From that simple premise (which has been rehashed millions of times), I began watching this with the expectation that I'll be seeing one cliché after another, with gratuitous violence and over-blown CGI and/or cheesy effects mixed in for good measure. I can honestly say that not only were those expectations overturned, but for the first time that I can remember, I was literally sat on the edge of my seat and kept in suspense throughout. That statement may sound generic and trite, but coming from a jaded cinephile, it becomes a huge compliment.

I never lost interest for a second, and the sheer intensity and suspense that I felt throughout 'Kidnap' got to the level where I was actively looking to see how many more minutes was left before it ended…not because I was bored and wanted to know how much more tedium I had to suffer, but so that I could tell how much more hell the protagonist (and by extension, I) had to go through before all the nail-biting suspense could finally come to an end.

It was a taught cat-and-mouse thriller expertly choreographed, and Halle Berry's acting was sublime! In fact, I was initially so put-off by the film's synopsis, I would have passed this over in an instant had it not been for the fact that Ms Berry was in it! The acting, cinematography and stunt-work were masterfully crafted in such a way so as to get you emotionally invested throughout. I think that is why this film engendered such a visceral reaction whilst watching it. If you cannot relate to nor care about the characters, the film you're watching falls flat, and you consequently lose interest very quickly. Not so with 'Kidnap'. The relatability of Berry's character, plus the superb job she did with this role, puts you right in the car seat next to her.

If you are like me, and suffer from the ennui that inevitably comes from having seen almost every movie ever made, and are looking for the proverbial 'white knuckle ride' and adrenaline rush, then I cannot recommend 'Kidnap' strongly enough. In fact, I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that this is on my top 4 list of films I've seen this year thus far!

So in a way, I give thanks to the two negative reviewers. Had it not been for them, I wouldn't have even bothered writing this review!

Karla Dyson (Halle Berry) is a stressed out waitress in New Orleans. Her son Frankie is everything to her. Her husband is fighting for primary custody of him. At a park, Frankie is kidnapped with Karla following in hot pursuit.

Halle Berry seems to have fallen into a lot of these minor thrillers. The first half has some good thrills. This is essentially one long car chase concluding in a fight to the death. There are a few too many convenient twists which erodes the believeability of the movie. At one point, she is following the kidnappers surreptitiously and I figured that's good way to follow them to their hideout. Instead, it keeps trying to elevate the intensity by having unrealistic turns. The movie slowly falls apart but it keeps trying and that's somewhat watchable.

The trailer and the story convinced me so far that I had to buy this DVD. And I didn't regret it because it is a real nail biter that took even my breath away until the end. Halle Berry was perfect in this so emotional mother role. Kidnap is one of the rare movies that is better than all other average or bad movies that came out this year. If you want to spend a suspense evening give this a chance. Together with my wife I give a solid 7/10. If you like this genre of films don't miss Trapped or Panic Room.

Let's start with the good points; the premise is fine, and the initial scenes are well done. Halle Berry delivers a solid performance throughout, which essentially saves the movie. However, the writing is terrible. Frustratingly, infuriatingly lazy writing. The movie contains so many situations where you find yourself shouting at the screen "What??? Why didn't you...(insert sensible course of action)". The answer is, of course, that if her character did that, the movie would be over in the next 5 minutes. My particular favourite was her inexplicably abandoning the shotgun while in the kidnappers house. There is some entertainment to be had here, but you may come away just feeling annoyed at the sheer stupidity on display.

The taglines for the movie 'Kidnap' are "Vengeance is a mother" and "They messed with the wrong mother". I really wish they would change or adapt these because they imply a different type of film to what this actually is. To me those scream of a film like 'The Brave One', 'Taken' or 'Deathwish' where revenge is the motivating factor. That couldn't be further from the case. This is actually quite a grounded story about a desperate mother who will do whatever it takes to get her child back. Misleading taglines aside, it is quite a good film.

It's the pacing that really makes this film tick along. It really does grab you by the proverbials early and then never lets you go. You are in for the ride along with the mother and you genuinely care about the outcome for these characters. There are a few pieces of ill-advised writing, where character's decisions are questionable at best, however it has to be said it is very hard to avoid any of those at all in a film like this and still have 94 minutes of action.

Halle Berry is good in the lead role. Something I've noticed about her is that she is a much better actress when her character is under duress. When she is just being a regular person and asked to act normally she comes across quite clunky and you remember why she won a Razzie. Give her character some drama to work with though and you quickly remember why she also won an Oscar.

'Kidnap' is a good little thriller with excellent pacing, decent acting and more than enough going on to justify an hour and a half of your time. Give it a look.