Conventional but entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (16 February 2009)

Taken uses the fear every parent has when their child leaves the protection of home. For most of us this fear is misplaced but occasionally it is justified. This simple premise is used with effect in this entertaining film. Liam Neeson is a convincing action hero even though he is middle aged. The plot is complicated enough to ring true but not so complicated as to interfere with the pace of the story. That said I think it could have been a better movie if there had been more of Neeson's character. What does the character do when confronted with such lawlessness? It's got to be more complicated to deal with intransigent ill will than is depicted in this film. I think this could have been mined for a more complex character study while maintaining the taught plot of the movie. This is one of my pet peeves about film making: it's always plot v character. Why does it have to be either/or?