What if a super spy like Jason Bourne in his middle-aged years got into a situation where his daughter is kidnapped by illegal human traffickers? The result of that high concept is Pierre Morrel’s Taken, a swift, compact French action thriller that does a devious number on the kidnapping story genre with the slickness and smarts of deadly espionage. The kidnapping villains clearly have no idea what kind of father they are dealing with.
As the movie opens, the hero of the story, a divorced ex-CIA operative named Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), is already paranoid about his 17-year-old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) traveling to Paris for the first time with only one other friend, Amanda (Katie Cassidy). After initially refusing to sign consent for her to travel as a minor without parental supervision, he reluctantly agrees thinking that this may be his chance to bond with his estranged daughter since he has moved back closer to his daughter in London, although she has told more than a few lies to be able to slide past Bryan’s seemingly overbearing paranoid assumptions. Then, when she arrives in Paris and while on the phone with her, he overhears her being taken away by some group of men.
The initial introductions of Bryan attempting to reconnect with his daughter and his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is now married to Stuart (Xander Berkeley) but still mad at him for sacrificing his family for his covert job are no doubt a little bit hokey. But the movie quickly shows that it means business once Bryan gives his ultimatum to a kidnapper on the phone he overhears, assuredly warning them that he will find and kill them with all the skills he has acquired. As he quickly hears from a spy analyst friend, Sam (Leland Orser) that the kidnapper is part of a sex trade trafficking mob, he finds he has only 96 hours to find his daughter or else she will likely never be found.
Once Bryan flies into Paris, the movie becomes a nonstop, cathartic ride in which the kidnappers can barely blink before they can figure out Bryan’s next move. The director, Pierre Morrel (who previously directed the equally kinetic District B13) and writers, Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen seem to have taken a lot of cues from the Bourne movies from the surveillance tactics and car chases to the martial arts fights and rapid-fire editing, all while giving them their trademark, at times almost monochromatic gloss in true Luc Besson style. And like the Bourne movies and District B13, it is almost perfunctory to try to describe much of the ceaseless action in words, as the film itself rarely takes a breath in showing the lightning speed with which this ex-CIA operative returns to his training roots for a more personal cause.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Louis
Best movie I have ever seen.
2 - Jaxxfunk
Entertaining movie, good review however Neeson has done action movies before in his outstanding career, see Darkman one of Sam Raimi's best.
3 - John
I was meaning to say that he has not done a role quite like this one before - a lone-man modern-day espionage hero type akin to a role played by Harrison Ford in the early 90s or, of course, more recently Matt Damon.
4 - Baz
Brilliant flick, my movie of the year
5 - blaine
This movie, was something else. Loved it. 5/5
6 - sympleshot
Awesome! Best movie I've seen this year. This movie is so good, I don't mind watching it over again. Two Thumbs Up! 9/10 Rating.
7 - Chad
Is this kinda like the movie commando with arnold shwartzeneger in it?
8 - sawit
Best Damn Movie!!!! That dude goes balls out nuts about his lil girl. Ima remember not to mess with girls that have dads like that.
9 - Atomic Popcorn
This was a terrible movie. It was no more than a better acted Steven Seagal movie.
It should debut on TBS instead of in the theaters
10 - fahim
i liked it...
11 - John
"Taken" is better acted than any Steven Seagal movie and that is key to its success; the thing Liam Neeson has a lot of and Steven Seagal lacks is gravitas.
12 - herbii
holy crap!! i cant wait for a sequel. Liam Neeson kicks ass! Movie was so suprisingly very gooooood! If they ever do make a sequel, prequel or whatever.. I just hope they dont mess it up, so since they probly will, I take back my sequel comment.. let a good movie stay that way.. but then again, i wanna see Neeson kick some ass again on the screen..
13 - Chico Zee
Lmao! at the paid commenters going "Best movie ever!" and "OMG, I can't wait for a sequel."
No one in their right mind thinks this is the greatest movie ever. Hokey plot, extremely unrealistic fight scenes, very little substance, and poor acting from everyone except the leading man.
It was an OK movie, no more no less. At least make your comments believable.
14 - sid
I'm still under the influence of this movie, so my comment is likely to be superlative! I went to this movie, knowing that one of the writers and the director were both French, and since I've seen some not-so-impressive movies (almost fell asleep), i was really skeptical.
BUT this one proved to be a great action movie. The best movie to compare with Taken is Hit-man. The idea is somewhat the same (lots of action, shots, flying bullets etc) - though the motive for the actions are not money. But the level of realism, the motivation of the character, the cold blood which moves him on makes this flick a good option to choose when selecting a movie.
Liam Neeson does a great performance, perfectly interpreting his role of a former spy. As he says in one of his lines, he's "retired, but not dead", having an opportunity to show everyone what he knows to do best.
The movie covers a hot topic too, kidnapping young women to force them to prostitute, and all the business this involves. You get to see the kind of people are supporting these arrangements and what it takes for the victims to be there.
15 - jose l
this guy is the real punisher everybody tell me not
16 - adolfo
After watching this movie Mr neeson should have been Batman in the new batman movies!!! My God watching this movie made me feel like watching rocky 1...omg..!
17 - adolfo
I forgot to mention something,the only thing i didnt like was that her friend was killed,but at the end she was smiling. You would think shed run to her mom and say mom they killed her...other then that awesome movie
18 - ashley
best movie i have ever seen. i am not kidding
19 - sean
who is driving the boat after he kills everyone??
20 - TakenWasTerrible
This movie was terrible, I guess if you liked it you've never seen a movie before, ever. Every scene has been done before, very predictable, and just downright pointless. Amazing how something this bad could ever get produced.
21 - Matt
Screw clit eastwood. this is a real bad ass
22 - Emily
This movie was great! Definitely in my top 5. Boo to all of you who continue to criticize the movie. It was amazing: no movie quite like this one had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The action scenes were brilliant, and it was unpredictable (for me, anyway, which was a good thing). Go see it! Definitely worth your money.
23 - Glen
Nothing like seeing 13 yr old boys review movies. "OMG it was the bestast evar!!!" Please.
24 - Gerard
Has to be the best action movie of the last 5 years.Many times during movies people say why didn't he do this or that in this movie the actor will do things i wouldn't rvrn think of.ONE GREAT MOVIE ...A MUST SEE
25 - ROBERT BURGERHOFF
GREAT MOVIE ACTION,GOOD PLOT,EXCELLENT ACTING--KEEPS YOU ON EDGE THROUGH THE WHOLE MOVIE--I GIVE IT A 10