Fun Action, Great Neeson

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2009)

Taken (2008)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
A former CIA agent (Liam Neeson) has his world turned upside down after his daughter goes to Paris for a vacation and gets kidnapped. He's an expert of this type of thing and it's going to take all his skills to locate her with the short amount of time he has. If you wanted to pick this film apart you really could because it's certainly far fetched and everything Neeson can do here isn't really believable and what he's able to do isn't really believable. With that said, who in the hell cares? Even though the story isn't that believable there's no denying this is a first rate thriller that will have you biting your nails from the moment the daughter gets taken all the way till the end. This movie has a simple story but Neeson takes it to a whole new level and really makes this film seem plausible. I mentioned it wasn't believable but this never comes through while you're watching the film because Neeson is so wonderful in the film you're willing to go along with him on this journey no matter where it takes you. The movie is extremely fast paced, well made and delivers on all levels. The action is first rate, the suspense is top-notch and Neeson performance is downright wonderful. I can't think of an actor who would have been better in the role. This is an action movie but with someone like Neeson it just brings the film up several notches. Again, you could pick apart how his character goes about doing things but just sit back and enjoy the ride. The film is very stylish in terms of the cinematography and it also features a very good music score to pump up all the action. In a lot of ways the film reminded me of another underrated gem and that's BREAKDOWN, the 1997 thriller with Kurt Russell playing a man looking for his wife who seems to have vanished out of nowhere. The two films deal with a simple kidnapping but both have a great actor to pull everything together so if you did enjoy this film you're highly recommended in checking out the other.