Fast Paced And Exciting - But Maybe A Bit Too Easy

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2011)

I generally like Liam Neeson's movies very much, and in "Taken" he does not disappoint. He plays Bryan Mills - a father and ex-security agent of some kind - whose daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers while visiting Paris and who is about to be sold into sexual slavery. Bryan finds out about it (perhaps a bit too easily - he happens to be talking to his daughter on the phone from LA when the kidnappers take her) and immediately heads off to Paris to find her.
There's nothing confusing or complicated about the story. It's a straightforward account of Bryan's search for his daughter. It has pretty much everything you'd want in an action movie (including hand to hand combat, gunfights and car chases) and once the kidnapping takes place it pretty much is non-stop action. One of the problems I found with this was that - in spite of the action - it all did seem rather to easy. Bryan is told from the start that in dealing with this type of activity he has about 96 hours to find his daughter before she disappears forever. To meet that deadline everything does fall into place rather too easily, and there's the always present unbelievability of the fact that no matter how many bad guys Bryan is up against he always comes out on top (they can take many shots at him - even when he doesn't seem to be covered - and do no damage, while one shot from Bryan is all that's needed.) Perhaps Bryan comes across too much as a super-hero sort.
That aspect of unbelievability aside (and I concede that it's necessary to make this kind of movie) the story is plausible. Unfortunately, young girls do get kidnapped and forced into prostitution or sex slavery of various kinds. That aspect of the story (especially as Bryan comes across young girls drugged up and helpless - and who he can't take the time to rescue because he needs to find his own daughter) is actually quite disturbing. This is a good, fast-paced movie that tends to get stronger as it moves along.