Excellent - didn't expect it to be this good!

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2009)

Lots of spoilers! I must have seen the previews for 'Taken' between TV programs several times/week and it was beginning to get really irritating. However, there was something about the vigilante plot that made me want to see it. 'Taken' started out a bit slow, with the background of the family - Liam was the Dad who quit his Secret Service job to get closer to his daughter, whom he rarely saw because of his job. His ex-wife remarried an ubra rich guy who upstages him at his daughter's 17th birthday by giving her an incredibly beautiful horse. Liam brought a karaoke machine. This all wraps up nicely in the end - I won't give it all away. So the daughter decides to go to Paris with a friend, pretending to stay at a cousin's place with aunt/uncle who, of course, aren't in Paris - they took a trip somewhere else. So the two girls land in Paris and are immediately hit on by a cute boy who shares a cab with them, checks out their place and calls in their location (and that they're alone)to a ring of international human traffic-ers. The two girls are typical teenagers their first time away from home - freedom clouds judgment - taking rides from strangers in a foreign country - in which neither could speak the language, bragging they're alone, bragging the whole '5th floor' is theirs, and they want to party. Good Lord, write 'stupid' on their foreheads and send in Jason (Friday the 13th). That's where the previews begin - but nothing could prepare me for Liam's strength and drive at finding his daughter. No Jedi tricks here - This guy does not fool around chatting or providing background for the audience who might have dozed off and forgotten the plot. He goes right for the information - and kills anyone in the way - right away - no time for them to plead for their lives or 'James Bond' their way out of his clutches. Liams takes the shot - every time. It feels good - these guys are scum of the scum. 'Taken' gives the audience what they don't get in 'real' life - quick justice for creeps, another chance for parents who should be more careful in sending their kids off places unsupervised - just because other parents aren't taking the time to make sure the 'i's are dotted and 't's crossed for teenage journeys. The films wraps up really nicely, too. The introduction into Liam's type of job at the very beginning of the movie comes in again at the end - like the stuffed bear Ryan brings back for his daughter in "Red October". Great directing - action shots are incredibly well done ala Die Hard and Bourne. Pace is fast, steady but with a breath here and there so you're not exhausted by the end of the movie. I haven't seen a good action movie like this since 'Live Free or Die Hard'. This is a good one- don't miss it - in the theater.