Neeson Kicks Ass

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2012)

Liam Neeson is retired CIA operative Bryan Mills; the divorced father of a teenage daughter, Kim, who lives with her mother and new wealthy husband in a really big house. The kid is a spoiled brat who rides horses and her biological dad feels inadequate when compared with his ex-wife's new soul mate.
Little Kim informs daddy that she will be traveling to Paris with her best friend, Amanda. He protests the idea, but she sweet talks him into letting her go. The twin tourists meet a stranger who shares a taxi with them. He invites them to a party and when they are abducted while Kim is on the phone with super dad, he warns the bad guys that he is a man with special skills, and that he will find them, and kill them. Anyone else delivering that line would be silly, but with Neeson, it works.
Through his many contacts, Mills is able to uncover the Albanian white traffickers responsible for his daughters disappearance. He reverts to his past days as a guy who gets things done in an unconventional and violent matter in order to rescue his offspring. The action sequences are good, and Neeson, a former heavyweight boxer in Ireland, steals Taken with his performance. A sequel is due in 2012, and I can't wait to see it.