fast-moving action thriller keeps surprising

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2009)

Good movie in many respects - twists and turns and fast-paced drivenness keep you on the edge of your seat. Neeson was great as usual. The actress cast as his daughter was too flighty and silly for my taste - I wouldn't let a hyperactive, over-emotional screaming-prone teen go to Europe, either. She acted like a tiny child without a thought. Anyway, I like how the film opened up with Neeson protesting the trip and also liked many of the mysteries along the way and his awkward but caring relationship with his silly daughter.
Don't think they should have included Neeson shooting the French police exec's wife's arm though - seemed incongruent with the character's moral bent and history with her. Point about sacrificing a family member is not well-made with faint apology afterward.
How is it that Neeson is instigating showers of gunshots and never takes a hit until right before finding his daughter? we don't even see him put on a bulletproof vest or see any reason to believe this at all. And what happened to the girl he rescued in order to sober her up and ask about his daughter? I'd like to see that thread sewn up, as long as we're dealing with as heavy a subject as sex trade - as long as we're taking on the social blight, why not some resolution to the system, somehow? At least a suggestion that there's a care beyond family. A few regrettable points where the script missed and perhaps overly choppy camera-work - do we have to become dizzy to get his frantic emotions? it's too forced. The ending is clapped on cliché - why not show the difficulties they would obviously have leaving the country in the wake of the father's blood-bath? And some deeper, wizened daughter. How is is that through all this, she doesn't even change? Yeah right. More character development is a must. Overall a fine story and nicely made film with important subject matter and potential for more thought.
Where have we seen this script before? Perhaps reworked in many scripts, but especially from 'Target' from the 80s starring Matt Dillon as the rebellious teen and Gene Hackman as the former FBI father who surprises his son with his know-how, savvy and worldly connections when the mother/wife is kidnapped? All teens need their parents to be a brave role-model, so this kind of film fulfills those fantasies. Plus a nod to social commentary on sex trade without sugar-coating makes this worth seeing.