Review: Taken

Taken is not your ordinary revenge flick. With its European influences, it is more of your thinking man’s vendetta film (not that the villains do any of the thinking). The film takes it time and provides you with a hero who uses his brains over his brawn. If you like the work of Luc Besson, give Taken a try. It’s his and Robert Mark Karmen’s words, under the watchful eye of Besson’s cinematographer turned director: Pierre Morel.

The movie follows Brian Mills (Liam Neeson), an ex-government agent who retires to finally have time to spend with his daughter, Kim. But with his wife re-married, Mills rarely gets the opportunity to bond with Kim (Maggie Grace). Trying to appease her, he signs off on a trip to Europe with another friend of Kim’s. But on the first day of their trip the two girls are kidnapped and thrown into a slave trade ring. Mills heads to Paris to track down his daughter and the men responsible for her abduction.

First and foremost, the movie slowly builds up a relationship with the characters, so that the audience has a connection with everyone involved in the kidnapping. The movie builds to this spot, but not without some active events prior to the film’s turning point. Afterwards the second act is a very archetypal revenge-driven sequence, with obstacles blasted out of the way by our hero. The final act takes a few unexpected and unforeseen turns in its events, but continues along the same lines of vendetta driven action.

The editing is fast, but not as fast as most action movies of today are, where you can’t see what is happening or the results of a quick attack. Also, besides the ordinary cuts used for continuity purposes, the editor exhibits a higher level of understanding when it comes to editing by using visual matches and playing with the cutting.

The action is toned down to reach a PG-13 rating, but nothing is edited out that is truly missed. There isn’t excessive gore and blood, unlike some action movies, so that the viewer can focus on the moves instead of the results. It’s a surprising move by the director and the producers to want to go for a lower rating, but I think it’s a smart one, especially if they want success in some foreign markets. The soundtrack assists in heightening the tone and suspense of the action sequences, but is hardly memorable otherwise.

Liam Neeson doesn’t seem like the first choice in today’s market of leading men. After all, Qui-Gon Jinn would be against such ruthless revenge bent behavior. But instead of going with Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, or the Rock; the filmmakers brought in a man who can believably play a retired government agent and father. Neeson also proves that he has the skills to stand up with any of the action stars of today, shining in the martial arts sequences and proving to be quite the MacGyver. Famke Janssen, though only in a small role, is a nice surprise as the ex-wife,though she was deleted from the trailers.

Overall the film is a nice change of pace. Though the villains are possibly some of the dumbest in history, they are up against one of the smartest action heroes as well. The film may be slower than some like, and without deep meaning, but it does have you caring for once about what happens to these characters through its entirety. Clearly this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for those looking for a new brand of action, Taken might just be for you.