"Taken" Movie Review

In the action flick Taken (R) Liam Neeson stars as an ex-spy who goes to Paris to save his estranged daughter from a mob group that has kidnapped her.

Taken is not a “new” release but it has become a staple at local cineplexes. The movie has also become somewhat of a box-office phenomenon as it has remained in the top five at the weekend box-office for eight consecutive weeks. In this day in age of short attention spans that fact is quite remarkable. Films that do well on word-of-mouth are few and far between.

The question becomes—why has this movie resonated so much with audiences? Even the star of the film Neeson has weighed in on the subject by saying, “People are angry and disgruntled about the economy. They're empathizing with a guy who takes matters into his own hands. There's a catharsis that comes from that.” There is some degree of truth coming from Neeson. The world of Taken is very black and white. The bad guys are truly bad guys and the good guy (Neeson) is an uncompromising good guy. If one is looking for a complicated film that dives into the gray area of crime and punishment then this isn't the movie for that. Taken is escapist fare and generally speaking what people are looking for that especially when times are tough.

Ultimately that line of thinking is actually selling Taken a little short. Truth-be-told, Taken is a solid action flick. It's thrilling without being over-the-top. The action scenes, while nothing new, are well shot. But most importantly, the movie doesn't try to be anything more than what it set out to be—and that's an entertaining action movie. Sometimes there's something to be said for a movie that accomplishes it's objectives. This movie set out to be a ninety minute popcorn action movie and it succeeded in that.

There's no debate that the other side of the coin in terms of Taken's success is Neeson's performance. Liam Neeson is not Hollywood's typical action star (and Neeson himself would probably admit that). But nonetheless it's his cool performance that sells the movie. Neeson is an accomplished actor and his screen presence adds a lot of weight to the narrative and instantly adds credibility to the character and story. If a lesser actor would have had this role I'm convinced that the movie would not have been the hit that it has become.

For the most part Taken succeeds as a thrilling action vehicle for Neeson. The film does falter at times as there were a few instances when the story boarded on the line of ridiculousness. But with Neeson's steady hand he was able to reel the movie in when it seemed that is was crossing over to the absurd.

Ultimately Taken isn't a movie for everybody but for those moviegoers looking for a worthwhile action spectacle then Taken is the answer. .

Final grade: B.