Goodbye reason, goodbye logic.

Rating: 1/10 (23 December 2011)

I'd like to say this, before I start reviewing this movie: I love action movies, I really do. I have no problem with campy stories or heroes singlehandedly defeating masses of villains. Plot holes or violation of physical laws are acceptable to me, as long as I don't feel messed around with. So while I have no problem with Bourne or James Bond movies, Taken is an entirely different caliber...
Let us imagine you were an experienced ex secret agent specialized in anti-terrorism. You still got excellent contacts to other agents. Now imagine your daughter was kidnapped by brutal human traffickers in a foreign country...
... do you go alone without backup or do you alert some friends? Just in the case, you know, that you are killed and no one is left to save your daughter or something like that?
Now let's imagine you identified a suspect...
... do you ambush him in bright daylight and violently shove him into a public taxi and start to torture him in the backseat right in front of an international airport, or do you at least follow him for a while, so you might not draw not unwanted attention and easily gather more info about the suspect and his contacts?
Furthermore imagine you actually captured the last surviving bad guy, after you killed all of his buddies, which unfortunately makes his knowledge the only chance left to find your daughter...
... do you torture him with subcutaneous electrodes and 110 volts of alternating current (9 volts from a battery can kill you when the current is applied subcutaneous) coming right away from the power grid and risk to kill your only source of information?
... do you kill said bad guy right after the first answer he gives you without verifying its truth?
... would you repeat same procedure (killing of your only source of information before verification of his statements) ?
If you answered all questions above with yes, congrats you perfectly qualify for the CIAs anti terrorism branch.
This movie is completely based on an ignorant, close minded world view filled with exceptional examples of stupidity: Human traffickers go routinely after people right in front of the Paris airport. The classical super zoom image enhancement (which is about as believable as outrunning a nuclear explosion) is taken to a new level here: A roadside automate does what the CSI at least needs a computer lab for.
Taken tries hard to look "badass" and clever. But in truth it is so stupid it's offensive.