My armpits are sweaty

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2009)

To get right down to it, Taken is a very gratifying film in terms of action. Liam Neeson does the job of portraying his role of the father well enough and the movie gives just enough background for the audience to care about him (His daughter, not so much). More importantly, he executes the fighting sequences very professionally and realistically although his character does go overboard a tad. But the viewers will not be disappointed as all the purveyors of the disgusting illegal trade of peddling drugged up prostitutes do get their comeuppance (at least the ones that Neeson encounters). Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) and Pierre Morel (Unleashed) show that they are established flashy film makers who know how to entertain right when they work together.
Yes, there are problems such as the acting at the end where the daughter does not show her gratification enough (one other reviewer mentions this) as well as the effects of the horribleness that she has gone through (and the fact that she can go from really drugged up to lucid in the span of 15 minutes). There are also loose ends of the politics and consequences for what Neeson's character did, but that would make the movie longer and less of what it's supposed to be: a satisfying, fast-paced vengeance of a bad ass father totally focused on saving his daughter from the worst circumstances for a girl.
I feel like an old man for saying this, but I hope teens, as well as the parents, learn something about life not being a party all the time and responsibility as a parent, respectively.