Spring Break
'Taken' is a hard movie to dislike
3 and a half out of 5 stars
Paresh Jha
Issue date: 2/3/09 Section: Focus
Liam Neeson has been itching to play this type of role. You can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. It's a wonder no one gave him the chance to become James Bond when he was younger. His stature and overall badass nature is just too perfect for the role. He brings all this to the table in his latest action flick "Taken." The story is about a former CIA agent Bryan (Liam Neeson) who has given up his life-consuming career in an attempt to become closer with his daughter Kim. However things start to get a little rough when his daughter decides to go to Paris for a holiday. Bryan, who was already wary of her going to Paris, receives a phone call from his daughter as she is being kidnapped. From this point on it is badass Liam Neeson all the way.
It is really difficult to dislike "Taken." While the film is not necessarily big on originality, it takes the relatively overdone concept of kidnapping and stylishly delivers an entertaining action piece. The action sequences are choreographed and orchestrated similarly to the 'Bourne' series. Well, if you are going to learn, learn from the best - and the 'Bourne' series is definitely up there. The brutality of the fight scenes are also quite well done, especially by Neeson who is so old now that you cannot believe that he is pulling off a role like this.
Some of the film's drawbacks are the rather poor performances by the villains. It's not that they are cheesy; they're just not that menacing. Granted, they are doing some horrible things to this poor girl in this movie but there just was not that air of believability with their acting. This could be attributed to a variety of things. The fact that not too many established actors were portraying the characters may be something to note and the script could also be another point of interest. The reason I keep praising Neeson in this film because it is literally a one man show. Perhaps the script was designed this way and never truly allowed the villains a chance to show their true malice.
Regardless, many other aspects of the film are constructed quite well. As stated earlier, while the actual premise of kidnapping may not be original this film actually delves deeper than the typical ransom nonsense most movies go into. These villains in the film are not looking for ransom. What they are really doing is far more dastardly than what goes on in your typical Mel Gibson flick. You'll have to see the movie to see what exactly that means. But do not fret, because the payoff is good and "Taken" has proven to be an unexpected good time.
It is really difficult to dislike "Taken." While the film is not necessarily big on originality, it takes the relatively overdone concept of kidnapping and stylishly delivers an entertaining action piece. The action sequences are choreographed and orchestrated similarly to the 'Bourne' series. Well, if you are going to learn, learn from the best - and the 'Bourne' series is definitely up there. The brutality of the fight scenes are also quite well done, especially by Neeson who is so old now that you cannot believe that he is pulling off a role like this.
Some of the film's drawbacks are the rather poor performances by the villains. It's not that they are cheesy; they're just not that menacing. Granted, they are doing some horrible things to this poor girl in this movie but there just was not that air of believability with their acting. This could be attributed to a variety of things. The fact that not too many established actors were portraying the characters may be something to note and the script could also be another point of interest. The reason I keep praising Neeson in this film because it is literally a one man show. Perhaps the script was designed this way and never truly allowed the villains a chance to show their true malice.
Regardless, many other aspects of the film are constructed quite well. As stated earlier, while the actual premise of kidnapping may not be original this film actually delves deeper than the typical ransom nonsense most movies go into. These villains in the film are not looking for ransom. What they are really doing is far more dastardly than what goes on in your typical Mel Gibson flick. You'll have to see the movie to see what exactly that means. But do not fret, because the payoff is good and "Taken" has proven to be an unexpected good time.
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