Taken (B or 3/4 stars)
When his estranged daughter gets kidnapped in Paris, a former spy relies on his old skills to find & retrieve her at all costs in 'Taken', directed by Pierre Morel. Liam Neeson plays the ex-CIA father. And watching him track down the gang that abducted his daughter & bring justice upon them is something to watch. The dialogue & actual story lacks a lot of originality. But the story is fleet, to-the-point, & chock full of action. It's definitely a decent Friday night flick to catch.
17 yr. old Kim (Maggie Grace, of Lost) is the pride & joy of her father, ex-government op Bryan Mills (Neeson); he left the CIA just to be closer to her in California. Kim lives with her needlessly bitchy mother, Lenore (Famke Janssen), & her can't-do-no-wrong wealthy stepfather, Stuart. Bryan may be retired, but after agreeing to work one night as a security guard for a pop star (Holly Valance), we get to see his CIA skills when a plot to kill the starlet unfolds. Meanwhile, while he tries to connect with his daughter, all she seems to want from him (for the time being) is his signature on a permission slip so that she can travel to Paris with her friend, Amanda. Skeptical of the world around him, he reluctantly agrees to sign at the last moment.
When the duo arrives in France, they share a taxi with a man named Peter, and Amanda tells him that they are alone in Paris. Bad move. When Bryan finally succeeds in getting in touch with his daughter, she tells him that some criminals have broken into the apartment they're staying at! Though he only has a small dose of information, Bryan promises Kim that he will get to Paris, find, & save her. But after being kidnapped & sold into trade by a ruthless Albanian gang ... his ex-CIA skills will really be put to the test. Bryan will have to endure & defeat police corruption, organized crime syndicates, & sex slave trafficking to claim his daughter. He'll kill anyone who gets in his way. Prepare for an hour of action-packed mayhem. But even if he finds Kim, will it all have been too late?
'Taken' works for 2 main reasons. For one, it's a fast-moving, one-track minded onslaught of a movie. After the 25 min. introduction of characters & situations, we're thrust into nearly a full hour of bombast before the brief 3 min. denouement. There's a vindictive energy to the proceedings. Neeson's character is skeptical of anyone & everyone; regardless of their affiliations, skin color, or nationality. He wants his daughter back Charles Bronson-style. There are no surprises in the script. What we watch is high quality chase & fight sequences ... and lots of satisfying deaths (loved the main torture scene!). The other reason why 'Taken' works is Neeson, himself. He is so badass here that all you want to do is climb through the screen & give him a high five after each & every killing.
The reason this film can't quite elevate itself to being great is because of its standard-ness. We've seen tons of movies like this before. And the Bourne franchise tackles a genre like this with much more intensity, depth, intelligence, & skill. The dialogue is not only (merely) functional, but also cheeky. i.e., "I'll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to". And there are plot points (throughout) that are fairly outlandish; hard to get my head around some of them. That said, one can still love a dumb action thriller as such. 'Taken' is rarely boring; mostly entertaining. And Liam needs more starring roles; preferably in better films. He's great.
17 yr. old Kim (Maggie Grace, of Lost) is the pride & joy of her father, ex-government op Bryan Mills (Neeson); he left the CIA just to be closer to her in California. Kim lives with her needlessly bitchy mother, Lenore (Famke Janssen), & her can't-do-no-wrong wealthy stepfather, Stuart. Bryan may be retired, but after agreeing to work one night as a security guard for a pop star (Holly Valance), we get to see his CIA skills when a plot to kill the starlet unfolds. Meanwhile, while he tries to connect with his daughter, all she seems to want from him (for the time being) is his signature on a permission slip so that she can travel to Paris with her friend, Amanda. Skeptical of the world around him, he reluctantly agrees to sign at the last moment.
When the duo arrives in France, they share a taxi with a man named Peter, and Amanda tells him that they are alone in Paris. Bad move. When Bryan finally succeeds in getting in touch with his daughter, she tells him that some criminals have broken into the apartment they're staying at! Though he only has a small dose of information, Bryan promises Kim that he will get to Paris, find, & save her. But after being kidnapped & sold into trade by a ruthless Albanian gang ... his ex-CIA skills will really be put to the test. Bryan will have to endure & defeat police corruption, organized crime syndicates, & sex slave trafficking to claim his daughter. He'll kill anyone who gets in his way. Prepare for an hour of action-packed mayhem. But even if he finds Kim, will it all have been too late?
'Taken' works for 2 main reasons. For one, it's a fast-moving, one-track minded onslaught of a movie. After the 25 min. introduction of characters & situations, we're thrust into nearly a full hour of bombast before the brief 3 min. denouement. There's a vindictive energy to the proceedings. Neeson's character is skeptical of anyone & everyone; regardless of their affiliations, skin color, or nationality. He wants his daughter back Charles Bronson-style. There are no surprises in the script. What we watch is high quality chase & fight sequences ... and lots of satisfying deaths (loved the main torture scene!). The other reason why 'Taken' works is Neeson, himself. He is so badass here that all you want to do is climb through the screen & give him a high five after each & every killing.
The reason this film can't quite elevate itself to being great is because of its standard-ness. We've seen tons of movies like this before. And the Bourne franchise tackles a genre like this with much more intensity, depth, intelligence, & skill. The dialogue is not only (merely) functional, but also cheeky. i.e., "I'll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to". And there are plot points (throughout) that are fairly outlandish; hard to get my head around some of them. That said, one can still love a dumb action thriller as such. 'Taken' is rarely boring; mostly entertaining. And Liam needs more starring roles; preferably in better films. He's great.