When his estranged teenage daughter (Grace) is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.
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With films like Non-Stop, Memory, Blacklight, Run All Night and many more, Liam Neeson has become synonymous with action flicks in the past decade and a half. While they have met with varying degrees of success, they all owe a debt to the film that first showcased Neeson had what it took to be an action hero: Taken. Since this showed up on streaming services, I figured I’d give it a look. Would time have damaged this first foray (which also beget two sequels), or is this still a classic intro to action hero Neeson?
Neeson really shines in Taken. A retired ex-military type, he looks pretty nerdy in the beginning of the film. But, that actually works, as it helps to transition him from the guy viewers were used to seeing to the action-packed go-getter he becomes in this film. He falls easily into his character, and keeps the viewer hooked through his portrayal of a desperate dad determined to do anything to get his daughter back. The rest of the cast works well too, with Maggie Grace doing a good job playing the aforementioned daughter in danger, and Famke Jenssen as Neeson’s ex-wife particular standouts.
The plot is pretty straightforward. A man’s daughter is kidnapped while on vacation in Paris, and he – trying to make up for the years lost on his government job – does whatever he can to get her back. Thankfully for him (and the viewer), he as a “particular set of skills” (mainly butt-kicking) that helps him to achieve that. Simple, and yet it keeps the viewer hooked, waiting to see if he’s going to be able to get his daughter back.
Unlike most beat-em-up thrillers, however, there isn’t a main foe he’s going to be in a final showdown with. Instead, Taken is all about tracing his daughter through various criminal organizations as she is trafficked. In fact, the end is rather abrupt, since the film knows the viewer is expecting a final showdown, it makes the last boss super simplistic instead – just to prove it’s different.
The special effects are pretty well done in Taken. With there are some obvious continuity errors (at one point, his car is seen with bullet holes in its rear doors, yet the passenger in the backseat isn’t wounded in the least; he shoots once at a bad guy at the end of a hallway with a pistol and six or seven bullet holes appear behind the guy, etc), they don’t really detract much from the film. Since the action is so intense most of the film, viewers will have to suspend their disbelief anyway (as usual), just to grasp that the guy can take all this punishment without any ill effects (until the stereotypical bullet wound to the arm near the end). And the guy must have hands of steel, since he can take out most foes with just one or two hand chops.
Despite all that, however, Taken just plain works. While too many action flicks rely on a big boss pulling the strings, this film focuses on the journey instead. While the steps are of a generic type (similar to an old school video game with its hordes of enemies in different settings), Neeson’s conviction in his role really helps keep the viewer tuned in anyway. It’s definitely not a perfect film, but it does its job to showcase Neeson in his first real take-no-prisoners action flick, and also manages to be downright entertaining, despite its flaws.
