Liam Neeson unleashes the fury in Taken
Written: Feb 12 '09 (Updated Feb 12 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Liam Neeson and his fight scenes
Cons: The plot is a bit much
The Bottom Line: As far as action movies go, Taken was much better than I expected. Liam Neeson rocks in it.
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| phungus's Full Review: Taken |
Taken is one of those movies that should have been nothing more than a B-grade starring vehicle for an aging action star like Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, with a star like Liam Neeson it takes even the most over-the-top moments and makes them plausible. I really liked this movie, even though it was way better than it probably should have been.
Neeson's character is a former spy or special forces soldier who has a teenage daughter he barely knows because he was always out of town or country for ‘work'. In other words, he's a Rambo type with a kid who wants to settle down. He is also divorced and his wife remarried a very wealthy guy, so that bit of drama is always in the way, and you can tell from the beginning that his ex-wife doesn't like having him around.
If you saw the trailers for this film, then you'll know that Neeson's teenage daughter is kidnapped. It happens shortly after she arrives in Paris, France with a teenage friend for a summer vacation. The reason for her kidnapping is pretty scary and based on somewhat realistic circumstances, so it works on that level. The fact that she was conveniently on the phone with her father at the same time it happened was a bit of deux ex machina, but necessary to hold the story together.
The first thirty minutes of this movie are there to introduce the characters and establish the setting, then the next hour involves Neeson going all over France busting heads and gunning down bad guys. It is all quite linear and predictable, like most action movies of this kind. The action scenes themselves are quite well done, and there is very little CGI. None of the stunts seemed over the top, which I liked. Besides the plot, most of this movie is fairly realistic although Neeson does get to the bottom of things too easily.
Liam Neeson saves this movie. One thing that makes it work so well is that there are no cheesy one-liners. Neeson doesn't play a smartass and he doesn't wisecrack at anyone, which is really quite a relief since so many action movies these days are written like comedies. He either kills people or lets them live. That's it. Because of his past military experience, he is able to use a few Parisian contacts to help him find his daughter. Other than that, he's a one-man army on a friggin' rampage.
After a string of independent films, I think it is cool to see Liam Neeson take on a role like this. He brings an air of credibility to the film, plus he more than proves that he can still kick butt. Since its release a couple of weeks ago, Taken has already been a huge box office hit. I just hope they don't ruin it with a string of bad sequels.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
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