AMB Reviews

Taken: 7.5/10 Stars

Release Date: January 30, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language. The main character punches, kicks, stabs, shoots, and even electrocutes people throughout. We briefly see several bloody dead bodies. Though it is all pretty bloodless, it's very realistic and shaky, making it feel real. During his search, he goes into a brothel and we briefly see half-clothed couples. Several others are seen in bikinis. Several milder swear words. It's implied that girls are drugged.

Review:

As unrealistic as most of this film was, I found "Taken" to be amazingly entertaining, even though it hadn't seemed all that intriguing to begin with...

In Short:

"Taken" follows ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills, who reluctantly allows his daughter to leave on vacation with her friend to the infamous Paris. Why was he reluctant? She's only 17. And when she and her friend are brutally kidnapped hours after landing, he immediately books a flight to Paris to find his daughter. It's time for him to kick some butt. The whole movie had a very nice pace to it, and never once had me bored. Liam Neeson gives a comfortable and pretty easy performance as Bryan Mills, and even though it sometimes seems like he accomplishes his goals a bit too easy, I found "Taken" to deliver fast-paced and realistic action.

In Full:

Ever since Bryan Mills divorce with his wife, he has never been too close with his 17-year-old daughter, Kim. Trying to establish a relationship with her, he reluctantly allows her to visit Paris with her 19-year-old friend, Amanda. Hours after they arrive, Bryan receives a call from his daughter. At first, everything is going fine, until several masked intruders break into their hotel room and abduct both Kim and Amanda. Now, Bryan, a former CIA agent, must track down his daughter's ruthless kidnappers before it's too late. It's not the most original plot on the face of the planet, but you're having too much fun watching Liam Neeson beat up the bad guys to really even care about it.

Even though there weren't too many main actors in this film, I found Liam Neeson's performance decent, if comfortable. He really wasn't stepping out of his comfort zone in this role. Maggie Grace was given the honors of playing the sweet and innocent Kim, while Famke Janssen plays the terrified ex-wife who is forced to wait at home, while Bryan desperately tries to save their daughter. All of the actors just seemed to click together to create an eerie and subdued atmosphere.

However, it was obvious that this film really wanted to try and show off with its impressive production budget. Once his daughter is kidnapped and he arrives at Paris, the action pretty much starts up and never stops. From the jumpy and realistic fist fights, to the car chases and explosions, "Taken" surely never failed to keep the audience glued to the edge of their seat and their eyes locked on the screen.

What did disappoint me was the film's tendency to make Bryan's mission seem a bit too easy. He isn't the youngest guy on the face of the planet, and to see him beat up and escape every single perilous obstacle that comes his way seemed a bit too far stretched. I knew it would be somewhat unrealistic, but it seemed to try and push that line at times. As noted before, this film's plot was also pretty thin. It seemed to have a general idea of where it was going, but was still in need of a road map to be sure.

Not that any of that mattered during the course of the film. I didn't realize any of this until after I had come down from my adrenaline rush and taken time to think about the film. No matter how easy it came for him, Liam Neeson kicks some major butt in this film. Every place he goes, it seems, there's always someone he gets in a fist/car/gun fight with. Once it picks up, it never slows down, but rather hurls us head first into an action-packed, if not flawed joyride.