I'm taken with Taken

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2011)

Yes, we've seen the Paris scenery many times before, with the likes of The French Connection, Ronin and more recently The Bourne Identity.
Fortunately, we were saved the whole driving-the-wrong-way cliché they often throw in there, quite uselessly, as the French and Americans both drive on the wrong side of the road anyway!
Yes, I freely admit that Taken takes a huge hunk of the slams and bangs from the aforementioned Bourne Identity.
And yes, Taken is iterative rather than innovative — Liam Neeson paying the bills rather than aching for any accolades.
But still, I find Taken to be an irresistible smash-and-grapple feel-good movie, up there with the surprisingly good Walking Tall — you really are rooting for Bryan, living every kick, crack, snap, shot, punch and grimacing, withering body blow.
I have to wonder if Kim (played by Maggie Grace) could have been any more irritating, and any less convincing as a teenager. Probably not.
Why did Bryan (Neeson) take the hair sample from the broken mirror? I've seen this film three times now and I don't recall him making use of the sample.
Neeson does a Connery and fails to hide his thick accent, but scores points for at least trying.
And the less said about the photo enhancement the better (you can't catch a reflection of yourself straight on when you're taking a photograph of someone else at an angle).
All that aside, I really like Taken. And so does my dad, he being the litmus test for any movie, because if my dad "gets" it, the whole thing must be brimming over with win.