Seen on: January 30, 2009

The players: Director: Pierre Morel, Writer: Robert Mark Kamen, Luc Besson, Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Anjul Nigam, Goran Kostic, Holly Valance

Facts of interest: Morel's next is "From Paris With Love" with John Travolta.

The plot: Liam Neeson stars as a former government operative who stops at nothing to find his daughter and free her from her kidnappers.

Our thoughts: Liam Neeson goes all Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer on us in Pierre Morel’s fast-paced action thriller “Taken,” and to be honest, watching him eliminate bad guy after bad guy for nearly 93 minutes is plenty of fun.

That said, “Taken” is certainly not a perfect film. The story line has its flaws and is totally unrealistic, the characters lack depth and aren’t really memorable, and even the movie’s ending isn’t as vibrant as I expected it to be.

Now, if this were a boring film, I would probably spend quite some time complaining about all these issues, but considering “Taken” is incredibly entertaining and even decently suspenseful, I cannot help but praise Morel’s efforts.

Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, the movie introduces us to Bryan Mills (Neeson), a former government operative who faces the longest 96 hours of his life when his beloved daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) gets kidnapped during a vacation stay in Paris.

But Bryan is a real professional, and you better not want to mess with him… ever! Determined to hunt down and kill the bastards who took his daughter, Bryan quickly puts the pieces of the puzzle together and travels to Paris to take his personal, bloody revenge.

And wow… does he kick butt with style! As I already mentioned above, Bryan is like a mix between Bourne and Bauer. Not only is he unrealistically smart and always a step ahead of his enemies, but he also shows absolutely no scruples about killing without mercy.

No matter what tricky situation he ends up in, Bryan always finds a quick way out, and following him on his quest to track down a bunch ruthless kidnappers all across Paris ends up being a wildly absorbing experience. None of this is at all credible, but it’s darn enjoyable to watch.

Neeson is undoubtedly the perfect man for this badass role, and the character of the unbeatable hero suits him very well. I mean, how can you not cheer for a guy who easily locates untraceable criminals and takes out a whole army of armed gangsters at once without even breaking a sweat.

Freaky quote: “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." – Liam Neeson

The final word: If you’re willing to ignore the film’s few flaws, you should have no trouble enjoying “Taken” to the fullest extent. Morel’s direction is a little too Paul Greengrass-like at times, but he does a fabulous job at keeping his plot operating at full speed throughout.

“Taken” is an explosive thriller that will keep you engaged until the very end.

Article by Franck Tabouring