Take Care

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2016)

When his daughter is kidnapped abroad, an ex-CIA agent goes to extreme lengths to locate her in this fast-paced, non-stop thrill ride whose box office success turned Liam Neeson into an action star. Neeson is indeed very good, conveying heartfelt passion and longing for his child, and much of the film's success is due to his commanding performance. The screenplay is certainly less spectacular, full of so many absurd improbabilities and timing coincidences that any sense of realism soon evaporates. There is also something quite ham-fisted in how Neeson spends the entire first twenty minutes worrying that something will happen to his daughter overseas. At first, he seems paranoid, but then the film confirms his every suspicion, in turn implying that all foreign places are really lurking with danger. Clunky and xenophobic as all this is though, even more vexing is the body count. With many men killed in Neeson's quest, it is hard not to question whether the end justifies the means. Neeson even kills three or four men purely out of anger. If they were standing in his way, it might be one thing, but Neeson's strategy of obtaining information, then mercilessly killing, comes off as a major character flaw that the filmmakers sadly have little interest in exploring. Deeply flawed as the film may be, it is still enormously entertaining - even upon second viewing when one knows exactly what to expect. The action scenes are very well spliced together and a sense of danger sublimely lingers in the air throughout. As invincible as Neeson seems, he also always seems utterly vulnerable, and the fact that he is much too old for the role actually works to his advantage.