Unravels Satisfactorily

Rating: 8/10 (5 March 2011)

I had two concerns before seeing this film: Will it be as good as Taken? and Has the trailer completely spoilt the reveals? I assumed No and Yes and still largely have that opinion. However, those pre-conceptions along with less than generous critical reviews thankfully managed to down-play my expectations and all-in-all I'm glad because I really enjoyed this film.
It harks back to post-Hitchcockian thrillers that I've enjoyed immensely in the past and which don't seem to get made these days, such as Polanski's Frantic.
I had read that it was formulaic and predictable, well, formaulic is fine so long as it is delivered well which this certainly is and anyway this genre is largely unrepresented (in my opinion) today so any good representation is to be welcomed.
As for predictable...? I didn't sit there trying to resolve the puzzle and even if I had, I'm not so sure I would have done so before the narrative revealed all. As such, I was entranced by the piecing together of it all.
Genre & formula aside, Liam Neeson is in Taken territory in terms of passion, confussion & anger whilst the choreography of action & tension is slick and impressively paced throughout: gear-changing car-chases, street-running evasions and psychological check-mates.
One final point, I liked the film's genuine tho subtle attempt to highlight social liberal issues such as free market ethnic labour exploitation and the hope that science can be motivated by ethics rather than profit.
If you like the appeal of this film, I believe you will enjoy it plentifully.