Overall, Taken is a fun little action movie where Liam Neeson gets in touch with his inner Jason Bourne and kicks asses all over Paris in an attempt to track down his daughter's kidnappers and rescue his daughter before she is inducted (permanently) into the human sex-slave trade. The film feels a lot like a cross between an 80's action movie (but a good one) and the more recent Bourne series. There's not a lot of intrigue or thought involved, but if you're an action movie fan, you'll get carried along in the flow of the film and enjoy the ride.
Neeson, an ex-CIA agent, badass, and devoted father, is the only actor worth mentioning in the film. Everyone else just fills a role, which is not necessarily a bad thing in a movie of this type. Unfortunately, the film's first 20 minutes are an attempt to build unnecessary characterization and leave you wishing the action would start already. Once it does, however, it's almost non-stop action and plot development all the way through to the end.
The film is a little gritty, but avoids (for the most part) the shaky handycam sequences that so many directors seem to feel makes for "in-your-face" action. The hand-to-hand action sequences and car chases sometimes move a little quickly, but in these situations there was definitely an effort made to pull back and let the viewer understand what just happened. The dialogue is only there to carry Neeson from one scene to the next, and sometimes made me wince. But if you can ignore this and the plot holes, and just sit back and enjoy the engrossing-but-brainless hour-or-so of action, I think you'll come out feeling entertained by the flick.
3.5 / 5 stars
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February 24th, 2009 on 12:34 PM
I think you're rating is a little low. This movie is clearly a case of a bunch of screen writers sitting around when one of them says "why don't we a make a movie that consists of nothing but Liam Neeson being a major badass?". This, they did, and they did it well. I'd give it 4.
February 24th, 2009 on 3:31 PM
I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are
looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do
have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a
very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.
If you change your review now, that'll be the end of it. I will not
look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for
you, I will find you, and I will tickle you.
February 24th, 2009 on 4:18 PM
Hehe, nice one.
February 24th, 2009 on 5:12 PM
Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like something right up my alley to watch.