Amazing pace of Taken makes it a winner

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2009)

If your not drawn to this film by it's simple trailer of the phone call between the characters played by Maggie Grace and Liam Nieson, you yourself need a recharge of the batteries.
The film starts of simply enough with the character of Bryan Mills on a quest to buy a karaoke machine for his daughter's birthday. He pours over the instructions, just to make sure the item is good enough for his daughter.
However, he's somewhat estranged from his family, despite the fact that he's giving up the career that took him away for so long. After an awkward moment where he delivers the gift, he's called upon by a friend played by Leland Orser (of Runaway Jury)to work security at a concert of a Britney SPears type diva.
The next day, Mills drops his daughter off for her trip to Paris, where he is told that she and her friend Amanda are merely going there to check out the Muesuems.
Instead, they hope to follow US on tour. Alas, a encounter with a runner for a group of thugs who kidnap young girls for sex slavery marks them, and they are later kidnapped. As they kidnap Mills daughter and her friend, he advises them to let his daughter go, or else he'd come looking for them.
And looking for them is what he does. After the runner is killed trying to escape Mills, Mills embarks on a twisted and sorted journey filled with seedy characters, and friends ready to betray him. After he finally gets his hands on Victor, the kidnap groups leader, he is set to find those who know have his daughter.
Vengeance is served by the character of Bryan Mills, as he eliminates the organizers of this group, until it ends in an epic battle aboard a yacht.
The Villains are rightfully chilling and ruthless. Mills is honorable, as a Charles Bronson style assassin. The Bryan Mills character doesn't use catch phrases, or fancy moves. Instead of being superman, he's presented as a father who has just the right set of skills to rescue his daughter, and perhaps, bring down the network.
Taken should have gotten more praise then it was given. This film is a sleeper of a gem that supplies the right balance of action, melodrama, and overall heart that is what makes it different then many actions films made today. A truly excellent film, rated 10 out of a possible 10.