Why Liam Neeson Is One Of Our Finest Actors Today

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2009)

Liam Neeson has certainly taken on his share of commanding & varied roles in films,from supporting (check out his work on 'The Bounty')to his lead work in 'Michael Collins'. 'Taken',a film with a script co-written with Luc Besson is another shining example. Ironically,'Taken' (a French/United States co-production)is a film that fared far better in Europe than it has done over here (and also sadly). Neeson is a retired mercenary,who is taking some pretty crappy end of the stick,under the table jobs (security work for a trendy pop star,patterned obviously after Brittney Spears,minus the attitude,for example). His life is thrown into a quandary when his 17 year old daughter is kidnapped in Paris by a crime syndicate from eastern Europe,who captures attractive young women tourists,drugged & forced into prostitution. Our hero takes the first flight to France & opens up a can of whup ass on the baddies. Does he find his darling daughter? This is a high caliber,suspenseful thriller that will have you glued to your seat. There is talk that the European cut of this film is a bit longer than the one being distributed in the U.S.(perhaps when it finds release on DVD,the extra few minutes will be included). Despite the fact that this film carries a PG-13 rating by the goons at the MPAA,it has some salty language,lurid sexual & drug references,and a high body county,due to some fairly graphic violence that would have landed it an 'R',some years back (perhaps the American distributors slipped a nice,thick package of money under the door at the MPAA to buy themselves the PG-13 rating