Liam Neeson in a Harrison Ford-style role

Rating: 6/10 (24 May 2009)

Previously, the only "Taken" with which I was familiar was the TV miniseries executive produced by Steven Spielberg (focusing on extraterrestrials). If I had heard the plot of this movie and knew nothing else about it, I would probably have assumed that it stars Harrison Ford. What a surprise that Liam Neeson plays a former government agent searching for his kidnapped daughter, using rather aggressive tactics. Seriously, some of what he does just might count as torture.
What I thought early on was that the one girl did incredibly stupid things when they arrived in Paris: giving a bunch of information to a stranger. This is only the second time that I've heard Albanian spoken (the first was in "The Inside Man", in which I learned how to pronounce Enver Hoxha's surname). Anyway, this "Taken" isn't the movie that I would recommend above all others, but it's OK for the length that it runs. Also starring Famke Janssen.