Taken: A Movie Review

Imagine if Jason Bourne decided to retire to be closer to his daughter, only to have her kidnapped while on a Paris vacation. Do that, and you have the basic premise of, "Taken", a by the numbers action flick that is actually better that you may have expected.

Liam Neeson (Schindlers List) stars as, Bryan Mills, a former US spy (his actual job is never truly revealed, which just adds to the mystery of his character) who has quit the business to be closer to his estranged daughter, Amanda, played by Maggie Grace of "Lost" fame. Amanda lives with her mother and, fantastically wealthy, stepfather and has quite obviously become something of a spoiled brat who, with the assistance of her mother (Famke Jansen) gets everything she wants which includes a going out of the country with a friend, a trip that requires Bryans signature in order to happen.

The movie does a great job of setting things up quickly; the strained family relationship, Mills' skills as a bodyguard/security type and his undying love and protectiveness for his daughter. Browbeaten by his ex-wife, Mills allows his daughter to go on a trip to Paris with a friend, under the condition that she calls him every night on a cell phone he provides. It is during one of those calls that his daughter tells him there are strangers in their apartment, springing our hero into action, recording the call and getting Amanda to provide as much detail as possible before she is taken. During the course of the kidnap, Bryan talk to one of the abductors and launches into a speech, one you see in the ad for the movie, that will give you chills and make you cheer out loud.

From that point on, the film moves at breakneck speed as Mills works against the clock to get to Paris and track down his daughter and the crew, an Albanian group who deal in the slave trade, that took her. The action is intense and you become quite willing to ignore the implausibility of all that is happening as you go along for the ride.

Overall, "Taken", is a better than average action movie that will keep you entertained for an hour and a half. It's not going to win any awards, especially in the acting department, but does a great job of accomplishing what it set out to do.

3.5 stars out of 5