Terrible opening, but picks up, decent overall

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2009)

Taken is a film that has been rather poorly received critically, but has been highly enjoyed by the majority of mass audiences, and it's not hard to see why. It definitely has its flaws, but keeps such a pace, at least after the opening act, that it's not challenging to watch and doesn't overstay its welcome. The movie boasts Liam Neeson; in a role dissimilar to anything I've seen him in, stars as an ex-spy and security detail agent named Bryan Mills, who goes on a committed rampage to find his kidnapped daughter.
The film opens with some painfully generic exposition. We have a divorced father, who now only wants to get close with his daughter, whom he neglected earlier in life because he was always away on business. His ex-wife is still bitter about the amount of time her spent away from them, and obviously desires the preference of their daughter. The daughter, Kim, of course, now has a new step-dad, who provides her with a much larger house, gets her better presents, and earns the compassion of his daughter. Kim then asks Bryan if it is all right for her to go away to Paris with her friend. Bryan is torn because, with her gone, he won't be able to form a closer relationship, however, in saying no, Kim will only be angered with him, also making relationship matters worse. There's also the fact that he has seen many monstrosities in his line of work that he's scared of what could happen to his daughter if away, alone, in Paris. Mills begrudgingly agrees to let her go. This wouldn't have been as bad, if there weren't awkward and contrived subplots spliced in.
When Kim departs for Paris, we are introduced to the next cardboard cutout character, her friend, Amanda, who plays the enthusiastic dumb blonde. The first thing they do upon arrival in Paris is trust an attractive Albanian fellow who they think not to question, because "who cares, he's hot"- Amanda. Low and behold, he isn't the nicest guy, and the two of them are seized. Kim manages a quick call to Bryan, and, from there, Bryan is forced to follow a trail of clues in attempt of Kim's rescue. This opening 30 minutes is pretty much awful. It's all familiar, and not even familiarity done well. However, after the initial eye rolling, the film does pick-up.
Once the film reaches the search, the viewer is treated with a relentlessly paced quest. The action rarely ceases, and, thankfully, the action is exciting and remains surprisingly grounded in reality, without being dull. As far as casting goes, Liam Neeson was the perfect choice for the role. He is believable both in the sense of compassionate father and focused action hero. Apart from one scene, the scene of the kidnap, he's pretty much spot-on the whole film. The supporting acting is surprisingly serviceable as well. Despite not being delivered much character to work with, I don't really have much to complain about, they all work well with what they have. Some on the one-scene actors are particularly impressive. I find, those doesn't often deliver as much emotion as someone in their place actually would, but the emotionally honestly of even the very small roles was well done.
One problem with where the film goes after the introduction though is that it never really builds. The first action scene when Mills arrives in Paris is just as exciting as the climactic scene of the film. The film remains rather flat, without a real rising action. Another complaint is that I felt we didn't get inside the protagonists mind as much as we could have. For instance, at the scene of the kidnapping, we see it from Kim's point of view at the time, and then as Mills retraces it later. It would have been far more effective had we only been treated to Bryan's end of the conversation the first time, and then trace along with him. The viewer would be more involved with his character, and it would have made it less repetitive.
Despite the film having some flaws after the opening, in certainly wasn't as bad as I feared while watching the opening act. I enjoyed watching Neeson in frenzy as he destroyed everyone in his path with cold and determined matter-of-factness. And while I can't give this film a hearty recommendation, I'm not going to warn to steer clear either. 6/10.