Finding Nemo meets Dirty Harry

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2013)

In Taken, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a retiree and father who takes helicopter parenting to a whole new level. Mills comes across as an ordinary, likable joe who likes to barbecue in the backyard with his pals, except that he also harbors lethal ninja reflexes from his former job as a federal agent with a murky resume.
He's also been a bit abused by the system, having undergone a divorce and having to feebly tolerate the endless whips and scorn of his conniving, superficial ex-wife and constant financial humiliation before the disgustingly rich sockpuppet who replaced him, as husband to his wife and as guardian of his daughter. But they are living the high life now, and Mills is left behind like an obsolete relic, a drag on the party.
But then, due largely in part to everyone's failure to listen to his better sense of the world, Mills' daughter is taken. She is snatched away into oblivion by dark spirits thousands of miles away and an ocean apart. So just how far does a father's love go?
It all sounds a bit hackneyed, even dated, but nevertheless the movie rides Neeson's performance as the scrappy, determined, and shockingly brutal hunter-tracker who charges through all obstacles, human, physical, societal, or logical, to rescue his daughter. In spite of having been featured prominently in a number of action movies, Neeson looks like a doting daddy, not a tough-guy assassin and I think that is why these types of roles for him result in such appealing, entertaining movies.
Taken is a fun, action-packed thriller in which Miller efficiently delivers just dessert to all of the nasty fiends scuttling along the supply line leading to his daughter. It's a bit of a throwback to older revenge and justice fantasies, in which White, middle-class westerners lash out at swarthy ethnic people who are out to exploit and wring dry western civilization. I can see why some would feel that the movie cultivates fear, distrust and xenophobia; I'm actually a bit impressed with how boldly the movie, like Miller, dives headfirst into these thorny situations.