it will certainly please action fans

Rating: 6/10 (30 January 2009)

TAKEN with Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen and Xander Berkeley, directed by Pierre Morel.
THIS gritty, violent English language, French action thriller finds Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List", "Rob Roy") playing Bryan, an ex-CIA operative who goes on a rescue rampage when his attractive teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), is kidnapped by Albanian sex traffickers while touring Europe. Once the premise has been set up, "Taken" explodes into relentless action. The haunted and determined-looking Bryan, whose physical skills are deadly, has 96 hours to get to Kim before her virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder. Thus he is prepared to kill, maim or torture any criminal scumbag who stands in his way. As the tag line says; "They took his daughter. He'll take their lives." There is nothing subtle about producer Luc Besson's new movie, and the vigilante morality is somewhat suspect, but the hugely sympathetic Neeson makes this non-stop actioner work and many, many viewers will get a kick out of watching the big guy terminate criminals and perverts with extreme prejudice. "Taken", which comes with sensational fight scenes, blistering car chases and slick shoot-outs, plays like a hybrid of "The Bourne Identity" and "Death Wish". Directed by the dude who made "Unleashed", It will certainly please action fans. My Rating: 6 out of 10.