Abduction (2019) Review

“Abduction” Theatrical Poster

AKA: Twilight Zodiac
Director: Ernie Barbarash
Cast: Scott Adkins, Andy On, Truong Ngoc Anh, Lily Ji, Aki Aleong, Daniel Whyte, Mike Leeder, Tom Caserto, Brahim Chab, Philippe Joly, Semiquaver Iafeta, Jai Day
Running Time: 98 min.

By Paul Bramhall

I confess to having intentionally avoided the Scott Adkins vehicle Abduction in 2019. In a year which saw the British martial arts star either headline or feature in the likes of Avengement, Triple Threat, and Ip Man 4: The Finale, the Roger Corman produced sci-fi romp backed by China felt like it had a “we all have bills to pay” vibe written all over it. You know the ones that occasionally pop up in any actor’s filmography who isn’t regularly headlining big budget Hollywood productions – Incoming, Green Street 3: Never Back Down, Legendary, the list goes on. It had always remained a curiosity somewhere in the back of my mind though, so as 2020 draws to a close I decided to give it a go (I know, checking out a movie a year after it was released is no biggie, but Adkins cranks them out so fast that Abduction is already 7 movies ago).

The main draw behind Abduction is the reunion of Adkins and Andy On, 17 years after they went head to head in the Tsui Hark directed 2002 Hong Kong flick Black Mask 2: City of Masks, back when they were both starting out in the industry. In a word of warning, anyone hoping to see the pair in a slightly less out-there tale than what their first outing offered (in short – Adkins as a mad scientist mixing up the DNA of pro-wrestlers with animals) will be left disappointed. While there’s no pro-wrestlers in sight, instead we have an alien race who’ve parked up above a fountain in Vietnam (invisibly, of course), and need human qi to be able to return home. We learn that some people have stronger qi than others, which includes Adkins’ daughter and On’s wife, so when they’re both kidnapped by the aliens to be drained of their lifeforce, the pair team up to rescue their abducted loved ones.

Before proceeding any further, I should point out that the Blu-ray of Abduction (yes, we love our physical media here at COF) comes with 2 versions of the movie – the producers cut, and the director’s cut. The version being reviewed here is the director’s cut. The director in question is Ernie Barbarash, a journeyman director who exclusively works in the DTV field. Barbarash has worked with Adkins before on 2011’s unremarkable Assassination Games, which pitted Adkins against his childhood hero Jean Claude Van Damme. In addition to Assassination Games, he also helmed the Van Damme vehicles 6 Bullets and Pound of Flesh, as well as the Michael Jai White actioner Falcon Rising. While none of them match up to the DTV action flicks that the likes of Isaac Florentine and Jesse V. Johnson crank out, at best Barbarash’s work is passable entertainment, at worst mediocre and plodding.

The out-there plot then could well be what results in Abduction being so entertaining. Working from a script by Mike MacLean, whose illustrious credits include penning Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Sharktopus, and Piranhaconda (notably all also produced by Roger Corman), the fact that Abduction doesn’t take itself too seriously is arguably its biggest strength. Until they officially team-up, Adkins and On mostly act as if they’re in 2 completely different movies, which works in the narratives favour. After being kicked out of the alien’s base in the opening scene and finding himself in a fountain in the middle of Ho Chi Minh, Adkins realises he has no memory and is stuck with a stutter.

Playing his character like a mix of Adam Sandler in The Waterboy and Frank Spencer from Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, it’s a rare comedic performance from the British thespian, and it surprisingly hits all the right notes. While Adkins stumbles around Ho Chi Minh trying to remember who he is and being slapped in the face by locals before he can spit out what he wants to say, On on (no spellcheck, this isn’t a double up of word usage) the other hand plays a poker faced former military man turned assassin under the employment of the local Chinese gang boss. After doing one last job to send a message to a rival gang trying to encroach on the Chinese’s turf, he wakes up one morning to find his wife gone, and despite having what he assumes was a dream about the aliens abducting her, believes it was the rival gang taking revenge and goes on the warpath.

The two men are eventually brought together by Vietnamese actress Truong Ngoc Anh, the star of the still unreleased in the west Vietnamese action flick Tracer. Ngoc Anh plays a psychiatrist who ends up with Adkins on her couch, and although reluctant to believe his story about aliens abducting his daughter, after she visits the park and meets an equally befuddled On who teleports in front of her eyes, she decides to connect the pair. Soon the truth about the aliens is revealed, and if they don’t get their victims “strong and beautiful qi” they choose to eat them “like chicken”!

Despite how goofy everything sounds so far, there are elements of the sci-fi concept which are actually rather cool. The alien’s ability to split reality is visualised through On opening the bedroom door to find the aliens abducting his wife, and the bedroom floating off into space while On remains stuck in the doorway (think the hypnotism scene in Get Out for reference). It’s clearly budget friendly, but nevertheless proves an effective way to convey the concept. Small touches like the fact whenever On tries to enter the bedroom after the event results in nausea and disorientation further help to establish the rules of the world Abduction takes place in. Speaking of hypnotism, I confess the scene contained here involving Ngoc Anh hypnotising Adkins is probably one of the funniest ever committed to screen, and unlike a lot of his performance, I don’t think this particular instance was intentional.

But let’s be honest, nobody is clocking into an Adkins flick to see how well he can act hypnotised, we’re here for the action. Thankfully Abduction gives both Adkins and On a number of opportunities to strut their stuff. The fight choreography is handled by Tim Man, who by this point has worked with Adkins on multiple occasions as both choreographer and occasional onscreen opponent, with assistance from the main villain of Boyka: Undisputed, Brahim Achabbakhe. Achabbakhe gets to pull double duty, playing the head henchman of the rival gang On goes after, as well as one of the aliens. On gets into brief scuffles with both characters, with the outcome of one definitely more successful than the other. Adkins and On also get to team-up for an entertaining 2 vs 2 battle against HK regulars Tom Caserto (Big Brother) and Semiquaver Iafeta (Helios), which involves some nice impacts and grappling.

The highlight for the fight action though goes to a battle between Adkins and On, resulting from Adkins being taken over by the aliens, and effectively becoming a kung-fu terminator. In an interview I did with him in 2018 he’d mentioned he was carrying a few injuries while filming Abduction (which at the time was going by the title Twilight Zodiac), however based on this fight you can’t tell. The flashy aerial kicks may be absent, but I enjoyed the more grounded aspect of it, and the presence of On feels like it brings an element of the classic HK choreography style. There’s a nice flow of exchanges, and Adkins genuinely feels like a force to be reckoned with, conveying plenty of power behind his blows.

If anything, I was a victim of my own expectations when it came to the finale. Having seen Achabbakhe return as one of the aliens after his role as a henchman, I’d been expecting things to build up to a confrontation pitting Adkins and On against his enhanced skills, and nobody choreographs a 2 versus 1 fight quite like Tim Man! But alas it wasn’t to be, and instead the real finale is martial arts free, instead opting for some sacrificial heroics to stop the victim’s qi from opening a portal back to the alien’s home world. It’s enjoyable, and involves the kind of cheesy low budget CGI that used to populate early 2000’s sci-fi B movies. It sounds like a negative, but I find low budget CGI being used to create an effect that can’t be done practically much more charming than big budget CGI explosions and fire, so it anything it only contributes to Abduction’s B-movie appeal.

Seeing Adkins play somewhat against type, combined with On who we frankly don’t see enough of, easily make Abduction worth a watch. The fact that it’s about qi sucking aliens in Vietnam, well, that’s just a welcome bonus.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10