Taken: As Long as Daddy is Right
When a film begins as “Frantic” to become “Rambo”, it is more for thrill-seekers and those who like their suspense more Cartesian. Potable entertainment after a day of hell, “Taken” simply ignores the road after a few seconds.
Directed By: Pierre Morel
Rating: 2/5
Cast: Maggie Grace, Liam Neeson, Marc Amyot, Arben Bajraktaraj, Xander Berkeley, Rasha Bukvic, Mathieu Busson, Katie Cassidy, Michel Flash, Ivette Gonzalez, Nicolas Giraud, Jon Gries, George Hertzberg
Bryan (Liam Neeson) has long worked for the U.S. government. He retired to be closer to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Passing through Paris with a friend, these two ladies are kidnapped by traffickers in Albania. To find her, Dad decides to use the hard way and use his contacts. Feature films that are about a kidnapping are common. If the references remain the thrillers of Hitchcock and the sublime “The man who wanted to know” George Sluzier, several stories have managed to mark the spirits, whose glacial “Frantic” by Roman Polanski and unequal “Breakdown” by Jonathan Mostow. “Taken” is not part of this category. Therefore it is produced and written by Luc Besson and is directed by his handyman Pierre Morel.
The only parallel that is held is with “Eye for Eye” by John Schlesinger. In conversation with her daughter, a father realizes that she is being taken off! From this premise there is a brutal manipulator about the possible, or a man decides to take the law in making the job. His goal is not to release these girls who are sold on the black market, but to save his offspring. The hell with their destiny and that of Kim’s friend if the primary interest is out of danger!
Once swallowed the leitmotif, the test can be regarded as a comedy. With an invincible hero who will never see his beard grow during his long journey. Despite his age, he is able to get rid of ten villains in the blink of an eye while identifying criminals takes three movements. Everything is in training and the many hazards that would make Michael Bay jealous. The pill is even better, there are gags at every turn, much humor (often unintentional), racist replica, a horde of clichés and all the things that come with it.
It is simplistic, primary and stupefying. This can be exciting and delirious, but on condition to leave his brain at the entrance of the cinema. Never before Liam Neeson has appeared so bitter and violent. On this side, it has nothing to envy to the figures of new action film, Matt Damon and Daniel Craig in the lead. On top of his 6 feet 4 inches, he is wrong that rectifier vile torture of individuals while injuring innocent people to get valuable information. But why did not Maggie Grace learned how to be credible and that he never informed the friend of her daughter not to trust strangers?
“Taken” is to be placed in the category of “guilty pleasure”. This is not good, but it is allowed to watch with a wide smile. Only to see how much it can be fetched, and it is. Considerably. Too? Probably. Except it was much worse.
