Taken (2008) Synopsis:
Will follow an ex-soldier travelling in Europe with his daughter. When the girl is kidnapped by slave traders, Dad has to find her before she's shipped off, never to be seen again.
Taken (2008) Movie Review:
From producer/co-writer Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element) comes the kidnap thriller Taken, which is played out formulaically and makes sure to cover every area of this genre that we have seen before, especially on television shows like 24. However, Besson’s secret weapon is the fantastically appealing performance of Liam Neeson as an ex-spy searching for his estranged daughter.
Neeson play Bryan Mills, who is an overprotective father that was never there for his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) when she was young due to his secretive government work. His job also cost him his beautiful wife Leonore (Famke Janssen), who is now married to the very wealthy Stuart (Xander Berkeley). Now retired and Kim just turning 17, Bryan is making more time for her and attempting to be the father he never was. On a trip to Paris from Los Angeles, CA with her best friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy), Kim is kidnapped by Albanian thugs that want to place in the human trafficking world. Bryan quickly begins to rely on his instincts as he quickly gets to Paris and begins following clue after clue to find his daughter. He does not hold anything back and he quickly proves he will do just about anything to anyone to find Kim and get her back home safely.
Taken is produced by Besson’s EuropaCorp group, which also released District 13, whose director Pierre Morel also takes the reigns of this thriller. Morel’s sequencing is super swift, which works in the film’s favor. After a few brief moments of character establishment, the film kicks into high energy and never lets up. The fight sequences are terrifically choreographed, which includes numerous hand-to-hand fights involving Neeson’s character. The script by Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen is typical of this genre and nature, but the character of Bryan is a kick-butt dad that does not take no as an answer. Bryan is a lot like 24’s Jack Bauer character, but he just does do all his fighting and problem solving in one day. There is some divulging into the human trafficking trade, which is troubling. However, the story plays out through most clichés, but the action keeps the film in tow.
As mention before, the real reason to see Taken is to see Liam Neeson beat up some bad guys. He also does not shy away from his menacing side, in which he kills as many people in this film as he beats up. Neeson is a brilliant actor and it is fun to see him play the hero dad that action audiences will be cheering for. Famke Janssen mostly cries and gives Neeson disapproving looks as his ex-wife Leonore and Maggie Grace happily plays Kim, until she is kidnapped.
Though Taken is something all of us have seen numerous times before, it is fast and action packed with for the most part elaborate fight sequences. However, the real reason to see this film is the appeal of Liam Neeson as an ex-spy going back to his roots to save his daughter. Taken opened last February in France and is slated to be released on September 19th, 2008 in the United States.
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Taken (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson
7th October, 2008 
