Taken – Blu-ray Review

By Patrick Luce May 17, 2009, 16:44 GMT

20th Century Taken (Blu-ray) What could be a skillful but ordinary action flick gets a surprising emotional heft from the presence of Liam Neeson as the hero. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has given up his career as a spy to form a relationship with his estranged teenage daughter--but when, on a trip to Paris, she\'s kidnapped by slavers, Mills uses all his connections and skills to turn the city of lights ...more

Taken is a straight-forward thrill ride that barely hits the brakes once the action starts. Liam Neeson shows he can hang with the best action stars and his character is willing to bulldoze his way through anything to get his daughter back. As the film rolls on, you almost start to feel sorry for the bad guys – who just don’t have a prayer of making it out of the movie alive.

Written by Luc Besson (who also produces) and Robert Mark Kamen, Taken was directed by Pierre Morel (who handled cinematography on 2007's War and 2005's Danny the Dog) and stars Neeson as a former CIA agent who has retired from the life to try and reconnect with his teenage daughter (Maggie Grace).

His life with the agency has left him with a broken marriage – his wife (Famke Janssen) left him for a rich man and doesn’t really like him trying to get back in their daughter’s life. He shows up for his daughter’s birthday party, but quickly sees just how out of place he is in her rich world. A bodyguard assignment gives him a chance to reconnect with her, but the opportunity is wasted when she shows up with her mother to ask to go to Paris with friends.

Neeson’s character knows the real world and the dangers a city like Paris holds for a teenage girl, but is talked into letting her go on the trip so he can be a good father. He even discovers that she was lying to him about where she is going, but decides to let her go anyway rather than rock the boat.

His fears are quickly proven true as he receives a phone call from his daughter informing him that men are in the house and she is about to be taken. Before the kidnappers leave, Neeson has a quick chat with one telling him to let the girl go and all will be forgiven. If they don’t, he will come to Paris, find them and kill them. Naturally, the kidnappers don’t listen and the film shifts into overdrive.

From that point, Neeson pretty much kills his way through a variety of bad guys until he finds the one who can get him to his daughter. There is not a lot of plot or character development in the film, but it is one hell of a ride.

Neeson owns this movie and seems to be a blend of the classic action/revenge flick character (think Charles Bronson from Death Wish) with the modern slick feel of Jason Bourne or Daniel Craig’s James Bond. He knows how to work the streets, and isn’t shy about using a little torture to get the information he needs to move to the next bad guy.

Morel knows how to shoot this kind of action and keeps the film’s pace moving so fast you don’t have time to wonder about story elements like character development or how Neeson is getting the information he needs to cut through the bad guys so easily. Morel keeps all the action up front and in your face, and the film’s short running time keeps the tension ramped up.

Although the film is set in Paris, this is not a sight-seeing flick, and we won’t be taking time letting the characters run through the local landmarks. This film is about the seedy underworld. Its story and the violence stays in the streets.

Unfortunately, there is a bit of that “superhero” feeling to Neeson’s character - which kind of distracts from the story. Neeson spends the film chopping and punching guys out with one hit, and manages to make it through most of the movie without even a scratch despite the amount of action on the screen. This does hurt the story a bit, and you have to wonder why Neeson is a one man show given he has a group of friends at the beginning of the film that are equally trained and would be able to help get his daughter back.

Again, this is a film where the brain is turned off, and you just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is an action movie, and it features big stunts, lots of hand to hand fighting, and the occasional death – well, actually a lot of death.

The movie looks great on Blu-ray with a sort of polish at the start of the story and more grain and grit as Neeson heads into the action of the Paris street. It also includes the extended cut and theatrical cut of the film (although there isn’t much difference).

The Blu-ray also comes packed with special features which take you into the making of the film, commentary with the filmmakers, and looks at the action sequences. There is also a digital copy of the movie.

If you are a fan of the action genre, Taken is the movie for you. The film is fast-paced, and loaded with big stunt sequences. Neeson is gritty, rough, and determined to accomplish his goal. He makes his way through the story with the subtly of a rabid bull, and makes it one entertaining film.

Taken [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.