In today's day and age, whenever a new action film is released, the viewer is usually subjected to the same pretentious cliché action sequences over and over and over. Every now and then though, a new film comes along that strays from the clichéd genre and creates its own new, stylistic atmosphere. A perfect representation of this would be Robert Rodriguez's 2005 film, Sin City. What Sin City did was combine heart pounding, adrenaline inducing stylized action sequences with a brilliant multi-linear story line that kept the viewer hooked.
Since then, there has not been a few decent action films, but none that have really pushed the envelope on creativity. Some films have tried (Babylon A.D.) and have failed miserably. Fortunately enough for the viewer, Luc Besson has re-teamed with District B-13 director, Pierre Morel to collaborate on a new film.
The Plot
Taken, this is the title of the film, follows an ex-spy, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), as he attempts to track down his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), after she is kidnapped by a group of criminals that run prostitutes throughout Europe and Asia. Mills must rely solely on his own experiences from the past that he has tried to bury for his own daughter's well being, so when he begins on a downward spiral to the person he used to be, he becomes a brutal and merciless man, hell bent on making his daughter's captors suffer. The love that Mills has for his daughter is such a strong force that it is reflected in the damage he inflicts on others. From torture to shoot outs, once Taken grabs a hold of the viewer it never lets go. The story becomes rapidly fast moving with action sequences galore to boot and is able to stray from the clichés that so many films suffer from.
eMovieGuide's Take
Most people would never think of Liam Neeson as an action star. The guy was in Schindler's List and Love Actually so it is not like he has the best resume for being in action packed films. Neeson is surprisingly one of the most hardcore and bad ass characters to grace the silver screen lately. Neeson's character is like a beautiful blend of Bond, Bourne and Bauer. What more could an action fan ask for? Another aspect that the film succeeds at is its magnificent build-up. A pivotal element to any action or horror film is its build-up. A film cannot dive straight into the action before giving reason for the story being displayed. The way Taken handles the build-up is spent by showing the relationship Bryan has with his daughter which gives the reasoning for all of Bryan's future actions and actually influences most elements of the story. Other action films usually have a cheesy build-up that lasts too long and loses the audience's attention from being too drawn out. Taken's most prolific aspect is the most powerful scene in the film and perhaps of recent action films. When Neeson's daughter is being kidnapped, the tension is so strong that the viewer is literally thrown onto the edge of their seat in eager anticipation for what they know is going to happen. When Neeson tells his daughter that she will be taken it is one of the most jaw dropping powerful scenes that an avid action fan could hope for.
Just like in every film though, except for a select few, there are some flaws. Besides Neeson, all of the other performances are completely forgettable and really bring nothing to the film. The ending to the film is highly predictable which does draw some of the tension away from the plot once the films gets closer to its conclusion, and the ending winds up being somewhat unsatisfying, especially after the thrill ride that the viewer was just taken on. Besides the previously mentioned flaws the only other real flaw that was notable was that some of the dialogue comes pretty cheesy and certain scenes are ruined by it. Particularly the scenes between Neeson and his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), are pretty laughable as they rely on conventional pseudo-dramatic babble that is all too familiar to the viewer.
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