Shaken, taken, and stern.

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2009)

'Taken' is Liam Neeson's last roar at being an action hero, and when his daughter gets kidnapped by hairy Albanians in Paris, Neeson slips into the night with a vengeance. Directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen this is one piece of lazy film-making - heads up for what may be the worst opening first act of the year. Breezy entertainment for the 60-or-so minutes when Neeson's crusading Paris and sniffs his daughter's justice, but this experience is mainly a big load of Jack Bauer envy, and there's loads of unintentional laughs and tiresome frustrations throughout, and I can't really see it as an enjoyable second watch. And look out for Famke Janssen as Neeson's incredibly thankless ex-wife and Maggie Grace doing embarrassing overacting as daughter Kim.