Taken:part 1

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2013)

Becoming a fan of Liam Neeson ever since renting a DVD of Dark Man from the now sadly closed down,local indie DVD rental shop Hollywood Video,I decided to have a look at Neeson's recent list of credits on IMDb,where I was shocked to discover that I had somehow not got round to seeing any of his new Action movies.(With the exception of his role in the Batman films.)
With having seen a number of exciting looking ads for Taken 2 on TV,I decided that I would start to take a look at Nesson's action films by taking a chance,on Taken.
The plot:
Getting his daughter's (Kim) luggage out of the car at the airport as she gets set for an art trip to Paris with her best friend,former covert operative agent Bryan Mills discovers that his daughter has actually lied to him,and that Kim is actually planning to follow U2 on their European tour.
Shaken over not being told the truth,Bryan is told by his ex-wife that the reason Kim did not tell him the truth is due to how over protective he is of her.Hearing this,Mills decides not to say anything to Kim,and instead waves good bye as his daughter boards a plane to Paris.
The next day:Paris:
After having rung the phone that he had supplied her a number of times,Brayn is thrilled when Kim finally picks the phone up to let him know that she has safely reached Paris.Relived at hearing his daughter's voice,Mills happiness sadly turns out to be short lived,when a gang suddenly break into Kim's apartment and kidnap her.which leads to Bryan realising that he is going to have to dust off his covert operation skills,in order to save his daughter.
View on the film:
Whilst the screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen is not the most PC script ever written, (is there a single likable or helpful person in Paris?)the writer's impressively put the movies pace at 60mph right from the start,which along with giving a good sheen to the more outlandish moments in the movie, (such as Bryan going from the US to Paris in next to no time) also leads to the lightning pace helping the viewer feel the same level of breathlessness as Bryan is,as he takes on everyone standing in his way,one by one,in order to save his daughter.
Matching Kamen and Besson's screenplay, director Pierre Morel uses gliding scatter shots to give the action scenes a strong blistering intensity,whilst also smartly including some moments of calm among the action,which allow the audience to connect to the semi-detached relationship that Bryan has with Kim.
Despite accepting the movie due to thinking that the title would go straight to DVD,Liam Neeson gives the film a raw beating heart that other actors would have left empty.Along with giving the scene that he has with Kim (played by a cute and very good Maggie Grace) a warm,slightly confused gravitas,Neeson also shows that he can give the action scenes in the film a tough, gritty and surprisingly spirited side,as he shows that he will stand his place like a rock,to make sure that no one survives in their attempt to tear him and his daughter apart.