Bryan (Liam Neeson) has taken early retirement from the CIA in order to live closer to his teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). Bryan's government work kept him away from Kim for much of her childhood, and he's now trying to make up for lost time. When Kim announces that she's taking a trip to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy), Bryan is apprehensive about her traveling on her own and his worst fear is soon realized, as Kim and Amanda are abducted upon their arrival in France. Bryan immediately springs into action, using his well-honed CIA skills to piece together clues from a single, frantic phone call he received from Kim. He hops a plane to Paris, determined to rescue his daughter before she falls off the grid completely.
District 13 director Pierre Morel knows how to make action work, and screenwriter Luc Besson knows a thing or two about writing bad asses. (see. Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional, Transporter) So when these two came back together for another go we knew something good would come of it. Throw in a pretty interesting cast of Maggie Grace, Famke Jansen, and the always impressive Liam Neeson and you have a recipe for awesome.
Make no mistake, Besson has his shortcomings as a screenwriter. He has two modes, good writer Besson (Leon, Angel A) and fun writer Besson (Fifth Element, Transporter). The latter Besson is sometimes guilty of uneven characters and somewhat silly plots, but the fun we have watching those movies far outweighs their problems. If I were to compare this script to one of his others I'd liken it most to Danny the Dog (Unleashed), but where Unleashed let up with some cutesy fun and humourous moments, Taken gets serious and hard to the core. Taken's story is silly and outlandish sometimes, but Neeson anchors the film with a truly spectacular performance. He is relentless as this man on a mission and he is brutal, he loves his daughter and will stop at nothing to get her back. Watching the film, it made me think what would have happened to Jason Bourne if he grew old and retired. I wouldn't call this a thinking man's movie, but if the trailer even slightly interests you or you are looking for just a really solid good time at a theatre, you'd be hard pressed to find a better alternative than Taken. Trust me.
--Greg MacLennan
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