Unlike something like Wanted, Taken can’t expect to amp up the body count to the point where the viewer loses track without us bringing its morals into question. Wanted got away with it because morality wasn’t in any way the point, but with Taken it is the point. Neeson’s daughter is the typical American suburban white girl who wants to travel but of course the moment she sets foot out of the country she gets kidnapped by those bad foreign guys who plan on trafficking her. So to get her back we must go through some of the most relentlessly violent stuff that’s been in cinemas all year. We’re meant to believe Neeson as not only this action hero but also as a loving and loyal dad. But when a scene pops up which sees his daughter in a bidding auction between a bunch of rich men in a fancy hotel and he chooses to bid for her rather than take her by force his ‘fatherly love’ is taken seriously into question by the viewer. I can see what the film so desperately wants to do (or, perhaps, say), the kind of thing you might see in 24, but it goes about it in all the wrong ways and as a whole the film feels morally bankrupt.
Will my problems with the film's morals be shared by the general movie going audience? Probably not; I dare say it won’t even cross most people’s mind. Instead you’ll get a younger male audience cheering on the strong violence and the thriller fans lapping up the fast pace. But for anyone who often seeks to look past the surface of their cinema, Taken will bother them more than it entertains them. For me it certainly did.
Article comments
1 - Andrew
Hi
I read your view it was most pleasing to read, however, I disagree with several points.
You said: "Taken has a kidnapping storyline that’s uninspired and unimaginative out with the small element of Neeson’s character promising to get the kidnappers and having the skills to back up that claim"
I would disagree and say Randsom has an unimaginative kidnap plot, where as Taken has a more darker kidnap plot. Kidnap is every parents nightmare but kidnap into the sex trade is that much worse.
Infact 24 series one follows simialar ground of a government agent usuing his special skills to get his daugher back. But a film cannot be as clever as 24 due to the time constraints.
24 and the Bourne series have done so well and are very popular. Taken is a combination of these two and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I at first did agree with you about the bidding scene, however, he is a secret agent and is using his initiative to get her back. If he took her by force he would likely put her in the middle of a shoot out and get her killed. The job of a secret agent is to do it covertly, which he is trying to do usuing his speical skills. That means to get her and get her out with as little trouble as possible.
The part of the film that I didnt like was the mother.
2 - Rand
It appeared there was nothing the father wouldn't do to get his daughter back. Why not kidnapp Jean Claude's wife or children and force him to get his daughter back?