taken-liam-neesonLiam Neeson (yes, Liam Neeson) stars as Brian, a former spy, who has retired to California to try to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter Kimmy.  His ex-wife and her uber rich new husband don’t make it easy for him.  At his daughter’s 17th birthday party, he gives her a karaoke machine because she wants to be a singer; her stepdad gives her a horse that’s the equivalent of a sports car.  Suffice it to say, she forgets about the karaoke machine.

When he receives a call from her for lunch, it looks hopeful that father and daughter may be on the right track to recovering their estranged relationship.  She only wants his signature so she can go to Paris for the summer with her friend.  Initially opposing the idea, and suggesting he tag along, he eventually relents.

Upon arriving in Paris, Kimmy and her friend meet a stranger who makes them swoon and before they can get settled in to their new digs, men arrive.  Men in masks.  Their hot stranger works for human traffickers.  Kimmy is kidnapped while talking on the phone to her dad.  Brian tells the kidnappers over the phone if they let his daughter go right then, he’ll leave them alone; but if they take her, he warns them that he will hunt them down and kill them.  They don’t heed his warning.  Brian makes them wish they had.

Taken is the kind of surprise I like; it could have easily delved to the lowest common denominator but didn’t, thankfully.  Neeson is relentless in his search for his daughter; he asks questions, and busts heads even after getting his answers.  The former spy has a dogged determination.  There is plenty of action, but for all of its running time, Taken feels like it’s running a little light.  It’s not as kinetic as it should be, or as it seems to be aiming for; it’s in the style of the Bourne films, but falls just below them.

I’ve heard some people complain about Neeson, that it should have starred someone else, someone known to be an action star–I disagree.  Neeson is great here, proving he can hold his own in a action flick and not just play Michael Collins or Rob Roy.  He really rocks the shit in this one.

4.5 out of 5
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