Watch at your own risk. Nesson is no longer a gentleman like his other movies.

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2009)

We have seen Nesson basically act very nice and soft in his other movies and I have no doubt that he can act well in that type. However, us viewers forgot that Liam Nesson is on the top 10 list in Hollywood of actors that can act as characters who you do not want to mess around with.
In this film, Nesson plays an ex-agent. We do not get much detail of what he does for a living, so ex-agent is as far as we know about him. His daughter wants to go to Paris with her friend and at first, Nesson's character did not feel comfortable of letting her daughter go. But after being guilted by his ungrateful and spoiled ex-wife, he let's his daughter go. The two girls go to Paris, develop the stupidity to tell a French man which hotel they are staying at and which floor they are on, and, well, you know happens. They are taken and thrown into the slave trade. No big surprise.
But what you got to realize about this movie is that it is very realistic in that regard. There are many girls that have done this mistakes. Even boys have done this mistake. And having a background like that in the movie makes it more believable and less like a Steven Segal action-flick.
And the great thing in this film is that Nesson's character is really cool about it. Throughout the whole film, he is not stressing a bit because he has a lot of self-esteem and self-worth. He knows that he is guy who can kick ass and beat the living daylight out of men he does not like. The character does not have a single doubt in his mind that he will never see his daughter again. In the film, tells the enemy, "Look, give me my daughter, and I will not have to mess you up. If you do the opposite, then I will kill you."
The action scenes are fantastic and awesome to watch. And the thing is that all the action scenes are actually more realistic than your average action scene because it is not stylized at all. Nesson just kicks their ass, kills them, and leave them. And he moves on to another criminal entourage to do the same thing. That is real fighting because fights between people do not last long; they pretty much end after ten seconds or so.
And you can not complain about Liam Nesson playing the main role because he acted well for this part. At the same time of being calm and quiet, he is also very relentless and coercible with his fighting. I could not ask for any better of an actor to play this role.
My only problem with this movie is that it is too short. But then again, if it were longer, I probably complain about it being too long. But I have not seen the director's cut of Taken so I want to be able to obtain that version and see some more action scenes.
If you really like action movies, this is the movie for you. Even if it is not stylized like some James Bond film, you will definitely be entertained. Just, do not watch it with your daughter. I give this movie a low 8.