Bryan Mills (Liam Nesson) is a retired spy who moved to Los Angeles to be near his daughter, KIm (Maggie Grace)- who is now 17.  He vows never to miss a birthday of hers and wants to reconnect to her.   He buys her a karaoke machine as a present while his ex-wife's boyfriend buys her a horse.  He allows Kim to go to Paris with her friend Amandabased ona few conditions like giving Dada  call every day.  When she talks to Dad, he hears her being kidnapped.  He vows to the kidnappers (evil Albanian sex traffickers) that he will kill them if he doesn't get his daughter back.    Bryan goes to Paris to find his daughter and a high body count mounts up. 

TAKEN is a popcorn action film.  The characterization is thin because it is all about the action in the film.    It is a pulse pounding action film as Bryan tracks down the ones responsible for tracking down his daughter.  The first 30 minutes builds the story to the event that throws Bryan into action.  He uses the skillls he learned a spy as he has only 96 hours to rescue Kim before she disappears for good.    Don't focus on the bad writing and acting of the Kim character.   Just sit back and enjoy the ride as Bryan takes out bad guys left and right.    TAKEN could have been a character driven action film, but it just goes for the gut and delivers a lean action film.    It is the type of film that will do well on DVD and Blu-Ray.   Liam Nesson is crackling as Bryan.  He makes us believe in the skills the ex-spy has and the determination of a father to rescue his daughter no matter what.     If you want your action fast and furious, TAKEN is a fantastic choice for enjoying 90 minutes of popcorn action entertainment.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Two audio commentaries were recorded for the Extended Cut: the first with Director Pierre Morel, Cinematographer Michael Abramowicz, and Car Stunt Supervisor Michel Julienne while track 2 is with Co-Screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen

 

LE MAKING-OF TAKEN is an over twenty minute featurette that focuses on the making of the film and features interview with Liam Nesson, Maggie Grace, and a few of the crew (speaking in French) like the director, Luc Besson, and Robert Mark Kamen.   The AVENT PREMIERE is a short featurette that has footage from the premiere of TAKEN that features an introduction to the screening by Luc Besson, Liam Nesson, and the Director.   Also it shows red carpet footage with Nesson’s wife Natasha Richardson.   INSIDE ACTION SIDE-BY-SIDE SCENE COMPARISONS are on disc one for six scenes in the film.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  TAKEN is fantastic popcorn action entertainment.

 

This DVD review is (c)5-17-2009 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com