Abduction 2019 * * 1/2 Stars

Director: Ernie Barbarash
Year: 2019
Rated NR
Rating: * * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Scott Adkins, Andy On, Lily Ji

"She's been abducted." Yeah she has. By albino, hooded aliens who have been around for centuries no less. Said aliens sure know how to fight (and brawl) Bruce Lee-style. They show up haphazardly in 2019's Abduction (my latest review).

So OK, everyone in Abduction mysteriously knows how to kick butt in the avenue of exotic martial arts. No explanation, no reasoning, no stock rationale, and no know-how. Just bone-crunching, fist fighting scenes in the vein of some B-movie, John Wick echo. Yup, for a film starring C-list action guru Scott Adkins and having him harbor a stutter, Abduction really wants you to take it seriously. I did until all the shoddiness and pseudo-cheesiness sort of crept in.

Directed by Xmas Netflix-er Ernie Barbarash (he was also a co-producer on 2000's American Psycho) and plotted well from a VOD standpoint, Abduction is a preposterous mix of black magic, time travel remnants, purported violence, and sci-fi mumbo jumbo. Call it "big trouble in little Vietnam". Call it "the matrix rebooted". Call it a John Carpenter pic ruined and refurbished by a form of MTV sheen.

The gist of Abduction which involves two intertwining vignettes, has to do with SWAT guy Quinn (Adkins) and gangster Connor (played by Andy On). Quinn and Connor's loved ones get captured by creepy-looking figures who are bent on steadily destroying the human race. They speak with Evil Dead-style voices, they wear black capes, they stealth it up, and they give the Grim Reaper a run for his money a la the personality department.

Bottom line: Abduction is sophisticated, eerie camp with a prototypical premise, standardized direction, and a knack for having some decently choreographed block blow sequences. Compared to more commercial releases however, the film just seems a little underwhelming. Abduction conveys random "ruction". Rating: 2 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson