A gripping, emotionally-charged thriller.

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2009)

The premise of "Taken" seems like a pretty standard kidnapping thriller. What elevates this film is a brilliant Liam Neeson, who portrays an ex-black ops or CIA agent (it's never really clear) struggling to connect with his teenage daughter and the emasculation of retirement. When his daughter goes missing on a trip to Europe, he gets a chance to kick some ass again. But that's not the point of the story. Neeson's performance is fueled by desperation. Every minute he's delayed, he could lose his daughter to the European sex-trafficking circuit. It's this sense of urgency that drives this film forward and twists the viewer's stomach in knots. That's not to say the film doesn't provide some truly exciting action sequences, and there are some great visceral moments when Neeson takes on the bad guys. But what makes this film truly stand out is it's heart. Thank Luc Besson, who wrote the script, for injecting some humanity into all the thrills. His writing, coupled with Neeson's performance, combined with a very timely subject matter (human trafficking) and you have the makings of a great thriller.