TAKEN with Liam Neeson ~ Grading & Review

[Base_Delta_Zero]

If you have a girlfriend, a wife, a sister, a daughter or are one yourself, go see Taken. If your female loved one is, oh, I'd say 16 or older, bring them with you. You need to see this movie. Not only because Liam Neeson is the man and at nearly sixty could give Jason Bourne a lesson or three, but the shit that goes down in this movie happens every day and not just in Europe or third world hell holes.

I don't want to spoil any more than previews did, so I'll keep it generalized here. Once the stage is set and things take off, they don't stop. Liam is great, the whole cast fits, the plot, direction, the action (no bullshit snap cuts and handy-cam crap as far as I could see - the fights happened fast because that's how real fights between professionals go, but you could follow everything easily enough), everything was top notch.

It's Luc Besson (The Professional), so you know it's going to be awesome, but I think this was as good, if not better in some ways. It's more grounded in reality, anyway.

Can't recommend it enough.

 

[BigFoot]

I saw this about four months ago and I absolutely loved it. Awesome movie and yeah, Liam Neeson is definitely the man. I should be getting this on Blu-ray in two weeks, can't wait to watch it again (in HD this time).

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I really did enjoy this movie, a cracking action movie.

 

[Brikar99]

I would recommend seeing it with a bunch of friends. We were having an excellent time trying to guess what he'd use next to kill a guy with, or how many times he'd crack someone in the neck. I can see this movie being a drinking game in college dorms everywhere.

 

[kitkat]

I haven't seen it yet but me and the hubby are definitely going to go see it. I haven't read any of the posts because I don't want to be spoiled.

But, OMG, I LOVE Liam Neeson!! I can't wait to see this. He looks like a total badass in it!! I like movies like this anyways but he'll definitely pull me in to see it at the theater instead of waiting for Netflix to see it. There is just something about him that I've always loved. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything that I didn't like.

And yeah, young Hollywood has nothing on guys like him.

 

[Aragorn]

Does this mean Stallone is going to have to add Liam Neeson to the badass club known as "The Expendables?"

 

[auntiehill]

I normally love Liam Neeson and find his movies very enjoyable.

This one? Not so much. To take on a subject as serious and awful as human trafficking and sexual slavery is a tall order for an action flick. It could be done well, if given just the slightest bit of attention. But here, it's just window dressing.

Liam's character is fascinating. He's quiet and unassuming, but we see early-on that he is one seriously bad-ass dude.

There are so many loose ends in the movie; the ending is abrupt and overly-simplistic. I was waiting for the big conclusion to bring everything to a satisfactory, cohesive end, and that never happened.

I'm reminded of the quote from "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," where Steve Martin says, "If you're going to tell these little stories, I have a tip; have a point!"

I rated it FAIR.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Does this mean Stallone is going to have to add Liam Neeson to the badass club known as "The Expendables?"

One would hope, but Liam's not really an 80s action guy, is he?

 

[Trippy]

But, OMG, I LOVE Liam Neeson!! I can't wait to see this. He looks like a total badass in it!!

He is and he was *sighs* Liam Neeson...

Oh ya, great flick.

 

[Bad Bishop]

[Liberal]
Liam Neeson as was too brutal to the kidnappers. These guys are human beings, probably with children of their own. He should have tried reasoning with them. His interrogation techniques were not consistent with our values as a nation.
[/Liberal]

Seriously, a big, un-PC to Taken, which was #1 at the U.S. box office this weekend.

 

[Aragorn]

Does this mean Stallone is going to have to add Liam Neeson to the badass club known as "The Expendables?"

One would hope, but Liam's not really an 80s action guy, is he?

Well, in a way he is, but he's not a leading man staple like Chuck Norris or Patrick Swayze or Arnold Schwarzenegger were, three actors who need to be in the movie.

But in the 80s, Neeson did make... Excalibur, Krull, The Bounty, A Prayer for the Dying, Suspect, The Dead Pool and Next of Kin.

 

[Brikar99]

[Liberal]
Liam Neeson as was too brutal to the kidnappers. These guys are human beings, probably with children of their own. He should have tried reasoning with them. His interrogation techniques were not consistent with our values as a nation.
[/Liberal]

Seriously, a big, un-PC to Taken, which was #1 at the U.S. box office this weekend.

Whatever. I'm liberal and his shit was awesome.

 

[Technobuilder]

I saw this movie right after I found out it had already been on DVD for the past year internationally. (Not sure why they waited to release it in the U.S.)

I Loved it. (I'd see a sequel to this over 'Bourne' any day.)

Sadly, the American Theatrical Version isn't as hardcore as the International Release.
They edited out a lot of the more violent, shocking parts. (Notably the absence of the nails through the thighs in the electric chair scene.)

 

[Aragorn]

^ Welcome to the double dip. New release -- Taken. Six months later -- Taken: Unrated Director's Cut (or maybe they'll call it: Taken: Qui-Gon On Your Ass Edition).

 

[Daedalus12]

Sadly, the American Theatrical Version isn't as hardcore as the International Release.
They edited out a lot of the more violent, shocking parts. (Notably the absence of the nails through the thighs in the electric chair scene.)

Damn it now I don't want to go see the watered down version.

So anyone know when the Blu-ray version of the international version going to be released?

 

[BigFoot]

So anyone know when the Blu-ray version of the international version going to be released?

No idea about the US version, but my copy of the UK version should be shipping within a week.

 

[JoeZhang]

If you have a girlfriend, a wife, a sister, a daughter or are one yourself, go see Taken. If your female loved one is, oh, I'd say 16 or older, bring them with you.

What? is that a joke? I enjoyed this film but it's basically action/torture porn for men - it doesn't even have any female characters in it - they are either hookers or vicitims waiting for a strong man to save them.

 

[Bad Bishop]

If you have a girlfriend, a wife, a sister, a daughter or are one yourself, go see Taken. If your female loved one is, oh, I'd say 16 or older, bring them with you.

What? is that a joke? I enjoyed this film but it's basically action/torture porn for men - it doesn't even have any female characters in it - they are either hookers or victims waiting for a strong man to save them.

Big deal. Do supporting characters like Kim (kidnapped daughter) and Lenore (ex-wife, mother) have to be much more interesting in a thriller?

And I don't think Taken is "torture porn" (like Saw or Hostel). Those films exist to advance cruelty and violence. Taken, on the other hand, is just a rescue story that contains violence.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

If you have a girlfriend, a wife, a sister, a daughter or are one yourself, go see Taken. If your female loved one is, oh, I'd say 16 or older, bring them with you.

What? is that a joke? I enjoyed this film but it's basically action/torture porn for men - it doesn't even have any female characters in it - they are either hookers or victims waiting for a strong man to save them.

Big deal. Do supporting characters like Kim (kidnapped daughter) and Lenore (ex-wife, mother) have to be much more interesting in a thriller?

For women, generally speaking, to enjoy the movie? There certainly has to be a good deal more to the characters in the flick than "Taken" has to offer - which was the poster's point.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I had a long review of this movie written up, but I looked away for a second and Liam Neeson killed it with a spork.

For a film where Neeson rampages through France with all the subtlety of the Wermacht, the action never really delves into ridiculousness and comes off as semi-believable for someone with his "very unique set of skills." No one defies physics with acrobatics during the fights, which are brutal and extremely fast-paced. There was a part where Neeson is driving his car in pursuit of a boat before it goes under a bridge, and I thought for sure they were going to do some dumb jumping the car onto the boat thing like you'd expect in a Hollywood film. But instead, he pulls up to the bridge and gets out, jumps onto the boat, and proceeds to kill every last sumbitch on the boat with the materials at hand like some kind of MacGyver of death.

They're clearly going for a Bourne vibe with the action, with a side of Bauer, but Neeson would kill those pussies in a second and still have time to read his AARP magazine in between killing off half the criminal population of Paris.

I found myself rooting for the kidnappers after first meeting his whining daughter ('Lost's' Maggie Grace looking remarkably younger than she did on the show) and annoying ex-wife (how the hell do you make Famke Jansen irritating?), but fortunately they moved on from that fairly quickly and once they get to Paris the action kicks in almost immediately with the brutal kidnapping scene and never lets up from there.

There's a couple of good car and foot chases, a couple of really shocking surprise scenes (the kidnapping scene is blown by the commercials and trailer unfortunately, but there's another one later that's awesome), and a ton of martial arts fights.