One magical scene (almost) makes the movie

Rating: 6/10 (19 September 2016)

That action hero image that Liam Neeson has cultivated over the last ten-odd years is a well-earned one. And as far as I'm concerned, he did it without throwing a punch. "Taken" features a scene - you already know the one - in which Neeson calmly lays out the consequences to his daughter's kidnappers:
(Note: read these words in his deep gravelly voice)
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
If it were me on the other end of that phone, I'd know damn well I'm headed for a gruesome end. And "Taken" pretty much fulfills that promise. Neeson moves from one set of bad guys to the next, methodically laying waste to their scumbag ranks. It's a workmanlike campaign of torture and death. What's disappointing is that the action scenes are a dizzying cut-to-ribbons affair, a stark reminder that this is really your typical Luc Besson eurotrash. It's got that crucial emotional element and a perfectly cast lead actor, but it's never as good as that one phone call.
6/10