Entertainment
‘Taken 3’ – predictable and mediocre
Film: “Taken 3”; Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Sam Spruell, Dougray Scott, Dylan Bruno, Leland Orser and Jon Gries; Director: Olivier Megaton; Rating: **
“Somebody murdered your mother in my house. I don’t know who did it or why, but I’ll find out,” Bryan Mills assures his daughter Kim. This forms the crux of “Taken 3”.
Unlike its previous two editions, “Taken 3” is a scaled up, reminiscent, action-packed thriller whose premise is loosely based on the 1993-released Harrison Ford starrer “The Fugitive”.
Set in Los Angeles, deadly ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) returns as a doting father to his now grown-up daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). He soon learns from his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is married to a multi-businessman Stuart (Dougray Scott), that she still fantasises about him and is considering a reconciliation.
But then their dreams are short-lived when Lenore gets brutally murdered and Bryan is framed for her death.
What makes this film a run-of-the-mill affair is the plot and screenplay written by Luc Besson and his long standing associate Robert Mark Kamen. The turn of events as well as the characterisation is predictable and lackadaisical. There are a couple of ‘plot-holes’ and unconvincing scenes that make the narrative appear weak. Also that is also why the actors fail to deliver.
The ageing Liam Neeson, though charming, does not elevate his character of the anguished superhero. His expressions are perfunctory, actions mechanical and speech on a low-note hollow, sounds superficial at times.
On the other hand, Forest Whitaker is lively as the bagel-munching detective Frank Dotzler, who is in awe of Bryan’s impressive skills. He seems silly while trying to caricature a stereotype detective and is seriously, not funny at all.
Dougray Scott, who has replaced Xander Berkeley from the earlier edition and Sam Spruell, who plays the Russian Gangster Oleg Malankov are the new entrants. They are quite noticeable among the supporting cast as there is not much complexity in the character development.
Visually, the plethora of impressive day and night aerial shots, gives the film a superior feel. But overall, with jerky camera moments, poor lighting to capture the atmospheric tension cinematographer, Eric Kress’s work is shifty and jarring. This, combined with super quick jump-cuts, mars the viewing experience, especially during the dramatic over-the-top action and chase scenes.
The background score is perfect except for a random Hindi song in one of the scenes. That score is unwarranted to the script and sounds illogical in the narrative. With the inclusion of this number, it is but obvious that director Olivier Megaton along with his producers, is trying to please a global audience and in the bargain, have delivered a mediocre kitsch.
Watch “Taken 3” if you have nothing better to do this weekend.
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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