Taken is an entertaining movie from beginning to end. It’s about Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), a retired spy who wants to reconnect with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), who lives with her mother Lenore (Famke Janssen) and her wealthy step-father Stuart (Xander Berkeley).
Trouble started when Kim asked her father if she can go to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy). He hesitantly allowed her on the conditions that she must call him every night and must tell him the address and telephone number of the place she’s staying.
It’s a tale of trusting your father’s instincts. When your father tells you not to go, you better stay or else bad things might happen. On the first day of their arrival in Paris, Kim and Amanda met Peter (Nicolas Giraud), who turns out to work for a group that victimizes young foreign girls travelling alone. The two girls got kidnapped but not before Kim managed to call her dad. Bryan’s worst fear has become a reality.
Bryan (Liam Neeson): I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
The plot was rather predictable but the pacing makes it exciting. Everything happened so fast that before you know it, the movie has already reached its end. The events might not be realistic but this is an action movie where you can rest your brain once you hit the play button.
Bryan might be retired but his skills are still there. Liam Neeson is perfect for the role. It was like watching an older Bourne. You’ll feel Bryan’s love for his daughter and at the same time he needs to find her as fast as he can if he wants to see her alive.
Oh, I almost forgot. Holly Valance is in Taken as a famous pop star. Must be hard for her to act being famous and all. I know most of you don’t even know who she is. Anyway her part in the movie is forgettable and could have been cut without sacrificing the story.
If you like a no-brainer action movie, then go watch Taken. Let your brain sleep for an hour and a half and just enjoy the show.
