Efficient and soulless

Rating: 4/10 (30 January 2009)

Efficient and soulless. Borrowing a page from the Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne playbooks, Liam Neeson exacts cool revenge throughout the Paris underworld. Neeson plays former US secret agent Bryan Mills who is on a mission to track down and punish the men responsible for his daughter's kidnapping. His mission is equal parts payback and extraction. One suspects that retired agent Mills went on his mission as much for the opportunity to torture thugs as to get back his daughter Kim (played by Maggie Grace better known as Shannon on "Lost.") Bryan Mills is always one step ahead of the bad guys, much stronger, faster, and more knowledgeable than his competition. He barely breaks a sweat. He dispatches whole rooms of thugs with bloody economy. Given Mills superiority and the frequent boss battles, "Taken" plays like a video game. Between bouts of fast mayhem, we see cut scenes of PG-13 torture and minimal exposition. This is a Jason Statham vehicle starring Liam Neeson.
Given the minimal sense of peril, the film's kicks are found mostly in the dispatching of bad guys. If you enjoy vicious headbutts, stabbings, and expert grappling, you'll find much to like. Bryan Mills is a great deal like Jason Voorhes--unstoppable and efficacious. "Taken" is an exercise in the current action style and this is disappointing coming from director Pierre Morel who gave us the off-the-wall, alive, ridiculous, and outstanding action film "District B13." "Taken" possesses little of the joy and verve of "B13." The palette of "Taken" is also dull and straightforward. Morel does this one by the numbers.
The best moment in "Taken" occurs early on as Mills wraps his daughter's birthday gift with OCD-like attention to detail. He carefully smooths down the paper and makes each fold sharp and distinct. It's a charming character moment, quiet and human.