Taken

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2015)

I Will Find You (8/10) Pierre Morel's action packed thriller, Taken, seemed to be quite the attention grabber for a broad audience. You will see some familiar faces on the screen such as Liam Neeson playing the father and former government agent (Bryan), Famke Janssen as the mother (Lenor), and Maggie Grace playing the innocent teenage daughter (Kim). Kim's trip will give you a different outlook on France and some of the problems in the world that are so easily overlooked. Taken doesn't seem to be the most believable scenario, but informs the audience of the arising issue with human trafficking and the societal normalization of prostitution. It will have you sitting on the edge of your seat continuing to wonder what is in store for you next. Liam Neeson, (Bryan) the father of a teenage girl Maggie Grace (Kim), is a retired government agent. He remains persistent while struggling to regain presence in his daughter's life. While on a trip in Paris with her best friend, Kim is kidnapped and held for the pleasure of the slave traffickers. With the only information Bryan has from his daughter's short phone call before getting "taken," he has less than four days to track his daughter down in Europe and is willing to demolish anyone or anything that gets in his way. In this film you will experience Liam Neeson tearing Europe apart in horrific search of his daughter. Liam Neeson's character will grab your attention and hold it tight from start to finish. The acting in this film is not only entertaining and respected, but the actors truly portray their character while giving you a feel of what it would be like to be in their shoes. With the little acting Maggie Grace (Kim) had in the movie, she did well playing the part of a seventeen year old who seemed to know more than everyone. While being auctioned off to the slave trafficking buyers Kim shows to be helpless, hopeless, and scared but yet becomes more aware of her horrible situation. While experiencing the unbearable time, Kim becomes more mature and advanced with the world around her. In this action thriller, there are many fast moving scenes. Even though they keep you biting your nails, they are at times hard to follow and very easy to become lost in. With it being an action packed movie, they should have aimed for better camera movement and viewing. In the modern apartment, during the kidnapping scene it becomes quite hard to follow as the editing and film choices were not the best. While the action is never boring or tiring, it is just sometimes hard to view, solely because of the editing decisions and capturing of scenes. Although full of excitement, it might also make you nauseous with the fast camera movements, poor editing, and quick scene changes. Morel brings a captivating sensation upon his viewers while watching this film. You will leave with the opinion of a consistent dialogue, a great choice of characters, and a riveting yet distinctive storyline. This film deserves great credit for delivering the misinterpreted facts and horror about sex trafficking to the audience. Not only does Pierre Morel leave you and everyone else feeling accomplished, he keeps your thoughts in mind on every action scene. I believe everyone should go out and see this movie, if anything to become more educated on these bigger issues. As Liam Neeson would say, "Good luck" to everyone. This movie will be tough to beat.