TAKEN (2009)

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"The film doesn’t bring anything to new to the action genre but it does the job better than most."

I don't know if anyone has noticed but it seems that when I see Liam Neeson in a film he's always playing a father figure/mentor, especially in such films as Gangs of New York, Kingdom of Heaven and most recently in the Chronicles of Naria films where he voices Aslan the lion. Now, in his latest film Taken, Neeson once again assumes the role of being a father, the only difference with this film is that his character has a dark side that is set off when things go horribly wrong for his family.

Neeson stars as Bryan Mills, a retired spy who wants the best for his teenage daughter Kim played by Maggie Grace. With some convincing from her and his ex-wife Lenore, portrayed by Famke Janssen, he agrees to allow Kim to travel to Europe with a friend, something he's worried about even afterwards. Soon after arriving in London Kim and her friend are mysterious kidnapped by unknown individuals and Bryan has the unfortunate luck to hear the entire abduction over the phone. With his Kim's life in jeopardy Bryan puts his old skills to use once again in an attempt to retrieve her by any means necessary.

Taken is your typical kidnapping/revenge action thriller, but goes about it in a different manner than most, which is why it succeeds. With a running time of 90 minutes the film is designed to weed out the small details and focus of larger ones. In some films something important will happen and then there's a little downtime, however this film is designed so that there's close to none making the even the dramatic scenes have the same amount of intensity as the action sequences, which says a lot because director Pierre Morel (the man behind the insane action film District B13) makes every action segment nail-biting whether it be shoot-outs, car chases or fisticuffs.

Very rarely does Neeson play a role like the one he does in Taken but he still manages to pull it off. At the age of 56, he proves that you need to be young to kick it into high gear and take out baddies and with his extensive acting ability allows him to make his character very believable and for some relate to the feeling of protecting their child. Maggie Grace does an equally good job of being a teenager who just wants to have a good time but then realizes firsthand just how cruel the world can be.

The film doesn't bring anything to new to the action genre but it does the job better than most. It's also a film that doesn't require much thought so you can sit back, enjoy the ride and cheer for Neeson and the carnage he creates. Taken is a must see for any action junkie.