Liam Neeson saves the film from mediocrity

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2008)

I love the fact that Taken has been released in here (Lima, Peru) before the United States. This kind of thing happens only every so often, and it gives local critics (such as me) the opportunity to review the movie with a fresh perspective, without the influence of more well-known, possibly American reviewers. It also makes it really difficult for one to have any information on the movie  since it hasn't been released in the US, few people have seen it, so finding stuff about the plot or the shooting is harder. So yes, I didn't know what to expect from Taken. Well, it turns out Taken is a pretty good flick, maybe even better than one would expect from a Luc Besson action flick.
Even though Taken is a pretty by-the-numbers revenge flick, it manages to be compelling thanks, in part, to Pierre Morel's direction. I like it because it gives the movie an undeniable sense of urgency  it is stylized without being too exaggerated, making use of  not so  quick cuts and shaky cam, but without making the film too shaky. (At least it's not Bourne Supremacy-shaky.) Action sequences are exciting, tense, and expertly choreographed. I'm not saying the action in Taken is 100% original and revolutionary, but what Besson, Kamen and Morel provide is exciting enough to make one forget that we've seen car chases in films about three thousand times. I like the way Bryan dispatches all his enemies  he definitely looks like he knows what he's doing  and the way all the action sequences seem to have consequences. They are shot in a gritty, realistic fashion, which means people actually die and the French actually care when Bryan kills and injures people. (This gives way to a subplot concerning a friend of his working for the French government.) If I were to compare this movie with other of Besson's action flicks, I'd say it is, to a certain extent, the "anti-Transporter." While the Jason Statham movies were all over-the-top and exaggerated (especially the second one), Taken is more of a reality-based, believable movie.
Not surprisingly, the film's greatest strength lies on Liam Neeson's performance. Even though the film's script is pretty average  and sometimes unintentionally funny  the fact Neeson treats the material so seriously makes one believe in his quest. I like the man's voice, the way he makes even the most clichéd piece of dialogue sound so important within the context of the movie, and the way he threatens the bad guys. He always sounds in control, calmed and sometimes even dangerous. One actually believes he's an expert, and that's he's willing to kill the bad guys to save his daughter. He also looks believable during the action sequences  I can't say if stunt doubles were used or not, but from what I've seen, I can say Neeson is really effective at looking like a total badass. The only gripe I would have with his character is that he was sometimes a little too brutal, which made rooting for him a little hard  the way he tortures a villain  using electricity  was particularly disturbing.
The rest of the performances are good, I guess, but here's no one that stands out as much as Neeson. Famke Janssen has a small, thankless role as Bryan's ex-wife. She gets angry and screams and cries a lot, but we really don't get to know much about their former relationship. Maggie Grace is not bad as Kim. At the beginning of the movie she irritated me a little  she and her friend, actually  because they acted a little too stupidly and immaturely for my taste  actually, it is because of this attitude that they get kidnapped  but I eventually forgot that and concentrated on her father's quest. Xander Berkeley and Leland Orser also have small  but vital  roles, but never really manage to take the spotlight from Neeson. The film belongs to him.
I liked Taken because it's exciting and tense, and because it provides with a great performance and solid storytelling. Liam Neeson is as good as he's been in practically every film he's acted in, and director Pierre Morel directs Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen's workmanlike screenplay with flair and style to make the audience forget about the clichés one inevitably finds in all revenge flicks. This is the kind of hero that's perfect for an actor like Liam Neeson: skilled and intelligent, but also flawed. (One feels a little pity for him at the beginning because of the way he's treated by his ex-wife.) I liked the fact that the action was gritty and realistic, and found the dealing of the underworld of women trafficking and the Albanese mafia in the screenplay both intriguing and disturbing. If I had to use only one word to describe Taken, that would be "intense".