I agree with you, it wasn't a bad film by any means, but it took a very serious subject, and built a Bourne style film around it. Lots of loose ends, lots of "And I care, why?" on my part.
TAKEN with Liam Neeson ~ Grading & Review
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I agree with you, it wasn't a bad film by any means, but it took a very serious subject, and built a Bourne style film around it. Lots of loose ends, lots of "And I care, why?" on my part.
What were the loose ends left open? He had a singular goal, to get his daughter back. Anything else was inconsequential to him. He wasn't looking to take down the entire sex slavery ring and rescue all the girls, which would have happened if this had been a Hollywood film. Frankly, while that would certainly be a more noble goal, his fixation on getting his daughter back to the exclusion of all else struck me as being much more plausible.
He clearly wasn't going to reconcile with his wife, and the French authorities probably aren't going to go after him because he has leverage against them if they do, so I'm not sure what unresolved issues were left open at the end of the film.
He clearly wasn't going to reconcile with his wife, and the French authorities probably aren't going to go after him because he has leverage against them if they do, so I'm not sure what unresolved issues were left open at the end of the film.
At this point I don't remember, all I remember is I thought there was loose ends at the time. Which was about 5 months ago.
I also didn't really care about any of the characters, they could have all died and I wouldn't have cared.
Now see, I saw this with my father, mother and sister and they all loved it. Why do there have to be compelling female characters for women to like a movie? Are you trying to tell me The Thing, for instance, isn't compelling because it has an all male cast? If you are, then stop talking shit about The Thing.
My sister, by the way, pulled the same type of shit as Neeson's kid about going to London for a summer exchange program thing in college and blowing off classes for a week to go to Paris and Rome without telling my parents when she was 19.
EDIT: Ah, crap, I thought I was quoting the post a couple back whinging about the irritating ex-wife, spoiled brat daughter and coked out slave girls.
My sister, by the way, pulled the same type of shit as Neeson's kid about going to London for a summer exchange program thing in college and blowing off classes for a week to go to Paris and Rome without telling my parents when she was 19.
EDIT: Ah, crap, I thought I was quoting the post a couple back whinging about the irritating ex-wife, spoiled brat daughter and coked out slave girls.
You know, differences of opinion aside (People are allowed to have them), My favorite part of the Film from a character standpoint was when Liam Neeson's character was with his old crew. I really dug that part.
I'm kind of hoping that if they every think about doing a sequel film, it's a film that revolves around him working with that crew again, in some form.
Now, I'm not sure if said film would have the same impact of focus that going after his own blood did in the first outing, but maybe they could figure out some other way to make Neeson' character "Not Care" about anything save the mission objective.
Anyways, in a period of somewhat lackluster film choices available to me, I did enjoy this one and found it entertaining... at least the first time through.
I'm kind of hoping that if they every think about doing a sequel film, it's a film that revolves around him working with that crew again, in some form.
Now, I'm not sure if said film would have the same impact of focus that going after his own blood did in the first outing, but maybe they could figure out some other way to make Neeson' character "Not Care" about anything save the mission objective.
Anyways, in a period of somewhat lackluster film choices available to me, I did enjoy this one and found it entertaining... at least the first time through.
I enjoyed it, but it seems a lot might have been cut. It's only 92 minutes or so, and the rising action seems a bit jumpy at times.
Maybe there'll be a longer version on the DVD release.
--Ted
Maybe there'll be a longer version on the DVD release.
--Ted
^ Yep. I remember one or two clips from the trailer that didn't appear in "our" version.
Thanks for the info. I'll look for the longer version.
--Ted
Thanks for the info. I'll look for the longer version.
--Ted
The other women that were there---did they try to help them or just walk away? What about Amanda? How does the daughter react to the news about what happened to her? At the end of the film, I kept thinking, "What about Amanda's parents? It's not that happy of ending if only one girl comes home."
I guess I was looking for more plot, more substance, rather than the rather abrupt "happy ending."
But it also bothered me that such a serious subject as human trafficking and sexual slavery was nothing more than a backdrop. I think if you're going to touch on something so serious, it should be addressed. But it wasn't. It was just a setting to watch one guy kill a lot of people. For some people that's fine, but me, I guess I just want a little more than that.
To each his own, I guess.
Here's a suggestion. Go rent Human Trafficking starring Mira Sorvino. If human trafficking and sexual slavery is your cause du jour, then that's the film you want.
No idea about the US version, but my copy of the UK version should be shipping within a week.
Fuck. I want my Taken now. Do you know if the UK Amazon.com ships to the US?
Yeah they do ship internationally. You might want to check whether it has a region code on it or not though.No idea about the US version, but my copy of the UK version should be shipping within a week.
Fuck. I want my Taken now. Do you know if the UK Amazon.com ships to the US?
Here's their international shipping rates. And here's the blu-ray.
^ Thanks.
Hmm too bad that it looks like it's Region B only. No doubt because of the release here otherwise I think the publisher would've released an all-region disc.
Hmm too bad that it looks like it's Region B only. No doubt because of the release here otherwise I think the publisher would've released an all-region disc.
There is the region free disc on Cd-wow.com, but that looks damn expensive.
This movie reminded me a lot of a Garth Ennis Punisher arc called "The Slavers". The movie and the comic story are very similar, right down to torturing the guy in the chair. The main difference between the stories is that the comic was much, much more graphic and brutal. They pretty much showed everything, from the rapes to the mental anguish and trauma that goes with it. It's literally some of the most heart-wrenching shit I've ever read. And they throw out some real life facts about human trafficing that are really upsetting. The movie seems very tame in comparison to the comic. It's like the difference between a Disney-Pixar film and Saw, really. If you want a very well written story that is similar in theme and setting but treats the subject matter much, much more seriously I'd highly recomend it. But, it's not for the feint of heart. Then again, no Ennis penned Punisher story is.
It's funny. For a guy who can't sell a movie ticket to save his life, Frank Castle sure has a lot of people ripping off his style. Because that's what this movie reminded me of. It's like if his family was never murdered, Liam Neeson's character is what he would have become. While the fights were very much in the vien of Jason Borne, the character's personality was more like Castle. That relentlessness. That ruthless cunning. That casual brutality. That no bullshit attitude. It's like the best parts of Castle, Bond, Ahnold and Borne all thrown together.
The action scenes were great(except for the mediocre car chase). They were quick, violent, and brutal. It's like a musical almost(or porno). In musicals they talk, then sing and repeat that for 2 hours(or fuck rather then sing). In this, they talk then he kills people and then they repeat that for 2 hours. It's a formula that works. This movie is like Commando if they actually took it seriously. Because it's the exact same premise almost.
The acting is good. Neeson is great, as usual. The way he can casually switch between Average Joe and Average Joe The Fucking Mass Murderer is sometimes off putting though. Femke brings alot more depth to her character then one would normally expect for a character like that. Maggie Grace is typical Maggie Grace in that she plays a spoiled, helpless teenager who is annoyingly upset all the time. The villains are pretty genericly evil, so when they get what is coming to them you're just all types of happy. I mean, they've got Arabs, Slavs, and The French involved in this thing so they got all their bases covered on people Americans would naturally hate. I was happy that the step-dad wasn't involved. That would have been stupid and cliche.
It's not the greatest movie ever. The story is kind of generic, and the exposition takes forever. The fights are awesome, but derivative of Borne and Bond. There's not a lot of humor to it either, which can be seen as a good thing. I also didn't like the pop singer. It seemed far fetched. And as I've said before, they could have delt more with the human trafficing part of the movie. So it felt like the film was censoring itself, which I never like.
Over all I'd give it a solid B. Some good stuff that gets dragged down by a bunch of minor crap that gets built up over time.
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