798 out of 798 people found the following review helpful:

5* Action Thriller, 5* Acting from Liam Neeson

Katrina from , 26th September, 2008

Honestly, this is the best action/thriller I've seen in years. It got my attention from the word go, and I was glued to the screen throughout. I very much respect Liam Neeson for his acting, and for the way he carefully chooses his roles (only the best will do!). Once again he has come up trumps with this fantastic film which deserves every success. Synopsis. A retired government secret agent (Neeson) is forced to use his skill and combat when his teenage daughter and best friend get kidnapped whilst travelling in Europe.

114 out of 141 people found the following review helpful:

Fathers for Justice

citizenk from , 26th September, 2008

Liam Neeson stars in this surprisingly unstylish,subtle-as-a-sledgehammer revenge thriller from producer Luc Besson,and 'District 13' director Pierre Morel.Neeson plays a retired US government operative (I know,yawn) who's marriage has gone sour,but who still dotes on his daughter to an almost obsessional degree. When she and a friend decide to travel across Europe despite the dire misgivings of Neeson,you just know there's going to be trouble.And so it turns out.Neeson's daughter and her friend are kidnapped in France by generic swarthy foreigners in Paris,and forced into prostitution.From here on in the film shifts into Jason Bourne territory,that is to say it turns into a slick-ish continental thriller/shoot em up,but has none of the depth or imagination of the Bourne movies.In fact you'll really have to go some to see a more spiteful,mean spirited film this year(a torture scene involving electricity being particularly sadistic).Once again we are witness to numerous random acts of violence and carnage which incurr zero consequences. It's hard to make a case for the existence of this movie,so I won't.Neeson does his best work as the brooding father doting on his daughter,as soon as he goes into he-man mode the film sadly loses any credibility it had.

87 out of 87 people found the following review helpful:

They messed with the wrong guy

Mickey Mouse from Dorset, England, 8th October, 2008

One of the best action thrillers I've seen in years. Despite not having as much press or hype, this movie is easily as good as the Bourne films, if not better. The quality is top-notch and the action is fast, frantic and constant throughout. It's more aimed at older viewers than the Bourne films though, as the plot is to do with the sex slave trade and can be quite hard-hitting at times. That said, the 15 certificate is spot on in my opinion. As someone who is quite easily offended and despises overly morbid or unpleasant content in movies, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It goes far enough to make it's point - the sex slave trade is horrendous and the monsters behind it are evil in it's purest form. Yet it doesn't go too far, to the point where it would become too distressing to watch. It's very focused on being a fast-paced, edge of your seat action-packed thriller. I wouldn't have chosen Liam Neeson as an action hero at all before seeing this, but I have to say he was the perfect choice. And although I scoffed at the thought initially, I reckon he could've played a good Bond, which he was offered to do. I've seen a lot of action films lately and this is truely something special, though not perfect (how many are?). Don't over-analyse, just enjoy watching the car chases, gun fights, punch-ups and explosions as Mr Neeson does whatever he has to to find his daughter. Despite sounding cliched, I actually found this to be quite resfreshingly different somehow from other action flicks. It's quite dark and visceral, and Liam Neeson's intensity on saving his daughter is incredibly gripping. It's utterly satisfying when he starts slaughtering the baddies, and boy did they mess with the wrong guy. Tons of awesome moments throughout - I'm absolutely gonna buy this when it's out on DVD, I've only just seen it at the cinema, but already I want to see it again. If you love action movies/series like the Bourne trilogy and 24, then go and see it, you'll love it.

49 out of 66 people found the following review helpful:

Oi! Jason Bourne's dad! nooo!

Daymo from , 8th October, 2008

I kept wondering if Neeson was either wearing a toupee or has been splashing out on the old 'Just for men'. Yet again, the formula: (Man+Job)*Time=Man-(Wife+Daughter) ...comes into play. This results in: ((Man+Wife)-Daughter)+((Bad Guy * X) / (Man+Job))=Man+Daughter+Wife(ish) ...or something like that. This is 'paranoid dad' suffocating his offspring because he knows what the world is like and she doesn't. Which of course it is.....isn't it? Ah what do I know, I'm no security nutjob who has a penchant for striking the trachea of every ne'er-do-well who comes in his way. I don't think it's appalling; it just follows the same old Hollywood action factory built template with the usual failings in the screenplay. They just dust it off with whatever action sequences are akin to recent film favourites (in this case Bourne Identity and Bond). And we can't forget the jerky/fast camera movements that supposedly enhance the action on screen. Whatever happened to those raw/gritty action scenes such as the French Connection?

44 out of 48 people found the following review helpful:

Simply awful

Alfsda from , 12th February, 2009

Formulaic, badly scripted waste of celluloid. Liam Neeson pretends to be Steven Seagal, badly. How people can compare this to the Bourne series is incomprehensible. Two hours of my life I'll never get back.

38 out of 41 people found the following review helpful:

A really bad film.

A Customer from London, 31st January, 2009

A really bad film: 'laughably bad' ..'a shambles'..'TURKEY!' A fifty year old toupee wearing Liam Neeson playing a demented robo-cop dad on a revenge spree is laughably bad. A complete embarrassment for all involved – the script is weak, the characters annoying, the story vapid. Further, beneath this shambles quiet gratuitous violence and distressing imagery that is pretty pointless. If you want a dark, revenge film then Shane Meadow’s ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ is a proper film unlike this turkey.

37 out of 42 people found the following review helpful:

Taken

gepete80 from from London, 12th January, 2009

A parents paranoia over their child growing up is a well trodden ground in the world of movies. Liam Neeson’s despairing dad in Taken moves it to a whole different world. Then just to really drive it in that daddy knows best the bugger turns out to be completely right. About everything. Then again its not hard to see why Neesons Bryan Mills wouldn’t be paranoid seen as his daughter Kim (was writer Luc Besson, a 24 fan?) is the most spoilt little rich kid this side of Paris (the blonde one). Spoilt rotten by her mother and stepfather (Famke Jansen and Xander Berkley both of whom are falling from their respective heady heights at such an alarming rate of knots that they both get about 5 minutes screen time) she suddenly decides to begger off to France with her friends even though her father had put his life on hold to be with her (which would rather nark you off really wouldn’t it?). And so predictably Kim goes to France and within 5 minutes of being there Mill’s daughter has been kidnapped. But hang on, Daddy’s an ex spy with lots of contacts and not put off by his daughters Prima Dona attitude goes flying off after her, giving a solid ‘told you so’ to Kims mother before dashing off to be the Knight in Shining Armour. What follows next is a bunch of explosions, guns, torture and double cross as Mills blasts through Paris (the real one) proclaiming ‘I’ll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have too!!’ OOOO Scary. We’ve seen Jack Bauer do this act for the last 7 years. In fact Mills might as well be Bauer for all the differences they have in character (a push over when it comes to their teenage daughters not the only trait they share), so was Beeson just being a plagiarist or could he just not be bothered to write an original character? And why on earth did Liam Neeson decide that this would be a suitable vehicle for him? He’s a much better actor then this yet makes possibly his worst career movie choice since The Phantom Menace, with clunky dialogue, rubbish plotting and a patchy support cast it might as well be Commando 2: The Revenge. The fact he’s practically in every scene isn’t saving grace for this movie. The standard of the action thriller has increased dramatically in recent years but, although this is the more serious film, it manages to fall behind even the Transporters tongue-in-cheek appeal. If you want to watch an edge of your seat white knuckle ride, hire 24 Season 1. And that’s 24 hours of white knuckle ride….

30 out of 34 people found the following review helpful:

It could have been so much better....

A Customer from Orpington, 27th January, 2009

Watching this sanitised Hollywood film with stereotypical characters (ahhh. He's carrying a baguette. He must be a Frenchman!), plodding script and labouring plot dialogue I couldn't shake the feeling that this could have been a cracking European thriller if it hadn't been so glossed-up. Reality gets discarded in favour of saccharine-endings and big hugs all round.

26 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Don't analyze, just enjoy

GezW from , 9th February, 2009

There is no need to try and make a case for this movie. It's action all the way with a definite dark side. If you are looking for an insight of the illegal sex trade, or the mechanics of family dynamics you'll be disappointed. However, if you want to see a surprisingly credible Liam Neeson play a seriously hard man tackling some vile bad guys you'll enjoy this. I would have liked to see a twist at the ending but otherwise a very enjoyable action treat

23 out of 23 people found the following review helpful:

Taken... I definately was...

PaulaWestwood from , 20th October, 2008

There is nothing quite like a bit of revenge in a movie, and this one has it in spades, after having his daughter kidnapped on a trip to Paris, Bryan (Liam Neeson) warns her captors that he has a particular set of skills making him a nightmare for people like them. The Eastern block trafficers in human though flesh are well organised though and more than capable of dishing out a good helping of retribution to anyone who gets in their way. It is possible the outcome isn't to hard to guess here but this is one superb top notch all action flick that comes as a definately recommended watch, excellent !