Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008)
After waiting months to see this, this finally came out in the US on Friday, so I was really excited to finally be able to see it. So before I even start my review, just know that my expectations for this were really high, this was one of my most hyped movies to see in 2009. As some of you may know, I really love revenge movies, so I already knew that I was going to at least like it some, but I got so much more than that. Taken is a non-stop thrill ride, right when Liam Neeson gets to Paris, the action doesn’t stop at all. So action fans really should love this one, it wasn’t just some pure action flick though; it has a great story with some great acting, mainly from Neeson, to go along with it. Once it starts you won’t want it to end.
One of the things that mainly had me hyped for this is that it was written by Luc Besson, who’s the director of Leon: The Professional which is one of my all-time favorite movies. Besson really has another great movie on his hands; I actually felt some of the scenes really reminded me of Leon. This is just one of those movies that really have you cheering throughout the movie, at least I know I was, and I haven’t actually cheered in a movie in a long time. The movie just went by so fast; I wish they could’ve made it longer. I know that if it was longer though, it may have you feeling that it’s a bit overly long. The ending was sort of predictable though, but most revenge movies end the same, so I don’t know why I expected something different. I really loved that song that started playing once the credits started playing though; it was the song that played in the first trailer for Taken.
The main thing that had me hyped for Taken though, has to be that Liam Neeson was starring in it. He’s one of my all-time favorite actors, and I seem to find him great in almost everything he’s in, expect maybe The Dead Pool, but even Eastwood wasn’t as great in The Dead Pool. None of his performances in anything will ever top him in Schindler’s List, that’s sort of a given. I’d probably say that his performance in this is about equal with his performance in Batman Begins, maybe not quite as good in that but almost. Olivier Rabourin was good in this as well, the only reason that I really even mentioned this though, is because of how similar he looks to Kevin Spacey. I swear I actually thought that he was Kevin Spacey at first. Famke Janssen was good in this, expect I didn’t really like that her acting was just crying throughout most of the movie.
Overall I was very happy that I went to see this, it met almost every expectation that I had for it. Even if you only have little interest in seeing it I suggest you do so before leaving theaters, because it’s just one of those movies that’s meant to be seen at theaters to get the full effect. It’s a non-stop thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole movie. I think any action fan will be able to appreciate Taken, because I’d go even as far to call it one of my new all time favorite action movies.