Halle Berry seems to have emerged as an action star during recent years (just like Liam Neeson for example, who has since indicated that he does not want to make actionfilms anymore because he’ss already 65). In The Call she was a 911
telephone operator who tried to rescue a kidnapped teenager. In Kidnap she plays a mother who wants to get her kidnapped 6-year-old son back.
Karla Dyson (Halle Berry) is a mother who’s in the process of divorcing her husband. She takes her son to an amusement park and during a short unguarded moment she suddenly can not find him anymore. She sees how he is taken to the parking lot by a woman. She runs after them but is too late to grab him back. She is able to get to her car though and give chase. It is the beginning of an intense hour and a half. It quickly becomes clear that Karla is a mother you won’t be able to stop.
After seeing this film, I wondered if I could get a refund from the cinema, since I had only used the edge of the chair. From the moment the abduction starts, a constant tension is present. Berry’s character takes great risks, ends up in dangerous situations and follows her maternal instinct “no matter what”. I can forgive the film for the fact that sometimes specific events happen or that Karla sometimes doesn’t make the best choices. The end result is a title that is very entertaining and a great thrill ride.
