Last weekend my wife and I rented the French film Taken with Liam Neeson, a generally enjoyable romp showcasing a main character-hero defying the often typical Pansy portrayal of the Hollywood hero-man.
Why do I say this? Synopsis. I won’t give away too much here, but the film follows Neeson (awesome performance), as Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA member of the Special Activities Division. Familiar with SAD? If not, these guys basically perform the covert activity, paramilitary reconnaissance, intelligence gathering stuff that the CIA doesn’t know about. From what I am reading, if one of the SADs is compromised, the US government denies all knowledge thereof. Cool.
So the movie starts off portraying a fairly suburban Mills running some security details and such. He’s divorced. He’s not particularly charming. He loves his daughter but is distanced due to a difficult ex-wife. His daughter needs permission from him to go on a trip to Europe with her girlfriend, at first he objects but eventually he reluctantly acquiesces. Upon reaching the foreign shores some very unfortunate circumstances befall the Mills daughter and friend, the story then unfolds with Bryan Mills putting all his SAD training to use – putting together the pieces of the puzzle of the kidnapping of his daughter by a Euro sex-trade outfit.
Sound exciting? Believable? Ridiculous? I would say that it is a little of all and that’s a good thing. Heavy on action, turning points in the plot – this movie will have you on the edge of your seat. I won’t give away any more of the story but let’s just say that one of my favorite parts unfolds whilst Mills finding his daughter’s assailant, a Mr Marko. He promptly kills every single one of Marko’s comrades, (awesome gun fight), and then straps Marko in a chair rigged to the light circuit of the room. Mills needs intel on his daughter and Marko is not cooperating. Mills pulls the switch….this ensues several more times until Mills gets the location that he needs. Relevant to our current events in the U.S. Waterboarding is torture?
Teeming with recent enjoyment of this surprisingly good flick, I was curious as to how ‘professional journalists’ viewed it. I wasn’t surprised when I found that most reviews were abysmal, some just average. Average? C –
Kyle Smith of the New York Post – “Taken,” one of those Frenchy efforts to do an American-style chase-’em-down and shoot ’em up, comes from formerly respectful producer Luc Besson…..half a star…”Mistaken.” I’m sure that this guy would have loved the movie sans the action, and replacing Neeson (Mills), with a Che Guevera wannabe type, extolling the evils of capitalism and corporations and the moral equivalence of ‘freedom fighter’ jihadism …. 5 stars! ….. or just imagine that the movie portrayed a young Earth Liberation Front activist kidnapped by Oil executives, daddy being a ‘charming, eloquent’ activist himself then confronting his daughter’s Big Oil assailants and saving the day…..5 stars, spectacular!
Wrap up –
Taken -unusually good action movie portrayal of a man that sucks it up and does what he has to. Go out and rent it.
4 1/2 stars out of five….
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