"Taken", starring Liam Neeson and directed by District 13's Pierre Morel, is very similar to the Bourne movies in both action and its main characters. The original sequels to the books the Bourne movies were based on had Jason Bourne as a much older man with a wife and kids. When the Bourne trilogy decided not to go in that direction, writer Luc Besson took that idea and ran with it. What he came up with was a brutal action movie about a father's love for his daughter that is made greater by Liam Neeson's ability to emanate warmth and genuine fatherly love. I'm staying away from spoilers in this review so don't worry about hitting the jump.The Good:
Liam Neeson: As I stated, Liam Neeson really makes this movie what it is. It's not that this wasn't a good movie, it's just that in order for this movie to work it needed a believable father figure instead of another Jason Statham. Neeson, 56, looks and acts like a normal loving father which makes his brutal acts to get his daughter back all the more chilling. Thanks to Neeson, the movie never feels like the daughter was just an excuse to kill a bunch of thugs.
The Phone Call: This is what got me psyched for the movie months ago. It's pretty much the same thing that was in the original trailers but actually watching it during the movie is ten times the experience. I wasn't really expecting it to be a big deal since I had watched the trailer about 10 times but sitting in the theatre, listening to Neeson speak as he transforms from loving father to loving father who is a trained killer sent chills up my spine and I couldn't help but smile.
Fight Scenes: Neeson's character, Bryan Mills, is a practitioner of "krav maga", a martial art also used by characters such as Jason Bourne and Sam Fisher. It focuses on the most quick, brutal, and deadly attacks against an opponent. The fights aren't long drawn out affairs where you question where the new thugs came from and why they didn't come running five minutes ago at the first gun shot. The fight scenes in this movie are great, never seeming very unrealistic. He doesn't spend time beating up one nameless thug as the others watch and wait for their turn. He dispenses of multiple baddies in seconds, sometimes before you can even grasp what he did. Multiple times in the theatre, the audience cheered, clapped, or "ohhhhed"(sorry, I didn't know a verb for that one) and really seemed to enjoy themselves. This wasn't a midnight premier movie where a bunch of fan boys cheer after every sentence said, it was a Friday night where the theatre was packed with everything from old people expecting a Liam Neeson drama to kids expecting another Hostel. The amazing thing about it was that everyone at the end enjoyed and applauded. Upon leaving I didn't hear anything negative being said about the movie except the guy that said "Jeez, a daughter's not worth that trouble. Why didn't he just make a new one?"
Car Chases: Very well done. One scene really makes you feel the speed as he zips through the Parisian streets.
Bad Guys: The bad guys themselves weren't bad characters. They were regular despicable men that you could actually believe existed. None of them were set up as the guy that would ultimately be the most formidable fight when the obligatory showdown at the end of the movie happened. Anyone he met was dealt with within a brief time period which was refreshing. As soon as you think he has reached the end of the trail, a whole other faction pops up that makes the whole scheme of things much grander and even more sinister.
The Bad:
Fight Speed: Thanks to Mill's krav, some of the fights actually seem to go too fast. It's sometimes hard to tell what he just did and by the time you realize what he hit the guy in the throat with, hes already killed four more guys. I actually found myself hoping for at least one longer fight in the movie. Thankfully though, I got it and it was worth the wait.
The Ugly:
The ex-wife/Famke Janssen: I wanted him to just snap her fucking neck for being such a bitch... and killing Cyclops.
Do not get involved with.Conclusion: Overall this is a great movie that you should definitely check out. It's worth the price of admission and can work as both a guy movie for the action and a date movie for the drama. I definitely recommend checking this one. You will not be disappointed.
Final Score: 8.5
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