They should have stopped at two. Making a third one while you're gasping for a story confirms that it's dollar bills they are behind. Taken 3 fails miserably.

After killing a prime character of the series, the story takes you on a predictable cat-and-mouse chase which involves a boring Russian cartel head this time. The basic story of the fit ex-military man who has the world's worst and craziest wife and daughter is now dissolved and the whole drama crawls out of its sweet familial boundaries. With an unoriginal story, Taken 3 crosses the threshold of unbelievability over 100% which is usually at about 40% in the other Taken films.

Forrest Whitaker is sleepwalking and displays one of his worst performances ever. Neeson is good, but looks old, and although is in character, seems misplaced. Maggie Smith is the same what you have been seeing of her in the previous two films. No change.

With an annoying score and exasperating background music, the narrative makes its audience too uncomfortable to relish the few satisfying sequences. The dialogs, the cinematography, the acting - everything is bad. Luc Besson's writing is below par and so is the nobody's direction. The stunt scenes (one where passengers suddenly vanish out of cars involved in a highway pile-up) do not impress. The usual cop rookieness is all over the place.

BOTTOM LINE: Except for the final few minutes of enjoyable action, Taken 3 is a disaster. There is no inventiveness one expects from a film of this genre. A follower should give it a try. But there's no way I would invest time on a fourth one, if it ever happens.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES