New on DVD Feb 04 2009 @ 04:29 pm
REVIEW: Taken
Directed By: Pierre Morel
Written By: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
Running Time: 93 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language
Taken offers little in the way of originality (ok, let’s be frank, it offers nothing original); it requires you to suspend an obscene amount of disbelief; and it’s borderline exploitative – 3 nasty strikes that would handily damn any other film. Director Pierre Morel (District B13), however, disregards such concerns in lieu of one thing: delivering on the promise that his chosen genre (revenge fantasy) requires of him (vengeance, preferably of the extremely prejudicial variety). And ohmygosh, Taken delivers on said promise so magnificently that it reduces the intellect to a collection of giddy valley girl-isms: “Do you, like, TOTALLY BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED????” The film is a slice of pure, guilt-riddled pleasure that satisfies some primal need you didn’t realize needed satisfying until you’re watching Liam Neeson exact sinfully sweet revenge upon horde after horde of scumbags and you’re cheering – audibly cheering. Taken’s faults, both egregious and painful, thoroughly drown in the pure fist-pumping pleasure of watching its bad guys bleed out in oh-so gratifying ways.
Oh, I'm sorry, did I snap your neck? My bad, guess my pinkie slipped. Just call me Mr. Butter Fingers.
Mr. Neeson plays Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA spook who’s hanging up his guns and gadgets in order to reconnect with his daughter (Lost’s Maggie Grace, pulling off a much too believable teenage ditz). She’s desperate to go on a cross-Europe tour but needs daddy-o’s permission, which he begrudgingly gives. Wouldn’t ya know it, first thing she does is get nipped by a gang of Armenian Albanian human traffickers, and Mills sets off in bloody hot pursuit. Any additional plot points are inconsequential and besides, they’re quickly buried underneath the body count.
There is a moment in the film that encapsulates the thrill that Taken offers, a moment so deliciously realized that even the marketing team couldn’t pass it up (the trailer includes the scene verbatim, and the entire line adorns the poster). Mills’ daughter contacts him by phone when masked men enter her apartment, and after she is taken, he has one chance to speak to her kidnapper: “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career; skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” This is a one-note role for Neeson, who’s done much richer work before (Kinsey, Rob Roy, Schindler’s List), but he sells the conviction of that one line so fully that it is impossible to look away. Taken, in a nutshell, is that one line and the fulfillment of its promise. Watch the trailer. If you get chills as Neeson calmly delivers his ultimatum, then run to the theater; you will not be disappointed.
Liam Neeson dresses to impress during extended torture sessions.
With so much wrongness in the world, both global and the kind we experience personally, we ache for justice to be served (clichéd but true). Sometimes we’re satisfied: corporate criminals jailed, ruthless dictators overthrown, serial killers executed. But more often, we’re left wanting. “Life isn’t fair” isn’t a saying for nothing. Injustice is, sadly, the status quo and not the exception.
Which is why, despite all its flaws, Taken appeals so deeply. After the day’s tragic avalanche of internet headlines and bobble-headed pundits and evening news zingers (”Child found decapitated! More at 11!”), you just want to see Evil receive its righteous comeuppance. Liam Neeson going Rambo on a bunch of make-believe strawmen isn’t realistic, nor does it effect any kind of real change, but it is intensely gratifying. Not a cure for your woes, but a nice nightcap to soothe them. Can one ask for much more from one’s entertainments?
on Feb 04 2009 @ 4:51 pm 1. Blake Derrick said …
Evan,
I ended up seeing this with about 10 other guys on Saturday night after we talked. It was a blast to be sitting next to your friends and share those “Seriously, did he just do that?” moments. Good review, I think you summed it up quite nicely.
on Feb 04 2009 @ 5:14 pm 2. Alexander Coleman said …
I just came home from this, Evan. I will write a review shortly.
I agree with you wholly about Liam Neeson’s conviction in this role.
One correction: the gang of human traffickers are Albanian.
on Feb 04 2009 @ 5:52 pm 3. Evan Derrick said …
Thanks, Blake. I’m glad you enjoyed it. It really is the perfect movie to see with a group of guys.
And Alexander, thanks for the correction – duly noted. Reading between the lines on your comment, it sounds like you probably don’t entirely share my enthusiasm for this particular slice of revenge fantasy fluff. I’ll look forward to your review.
on Feb 04 2009 @ 6:50 pm 4. Luke Harrington said …
I enjoyed this film immensely; I think I agree with the four stars. Not a Great Film, but an excellent example of a Very Good Film.
What was interesting to me was that it was, as you say, a fantasy about good winning unequivocally over evil; but at the same time it didn’t seem overly concerned about the fate of the kidnapped sex slaves that weren’t Neeson’s daughter. In other words, it was more than happy to heap their bodies on the pile in the name of giving its hero a formidable enemy. Is that a bit a gritty realism, or a failure to complete the good-guys-win fantasy?
on Feb 04 2009 @ 11:21 pm 5. Alexander Coleman said …
“Reading between the lines on your comment, it sounds like you probably don’t entirely share my enthusiasm for this particular slice of revenge fantasy fluff. I’ll look forward to your review.”
Actually, I enjoyed the film quite a bit, but I saw Taken as a character-driven tale of a man’s love for his daughter first and foremost–which I think is good. For one thing, it results in a more emotionally involving experience than, say, the Bourne movies. And there was an artful delicacy to it that is lacking in most action movies these days. Ah, the French.
Luke, I find your point interesting. I believe the film was espousing a casuist perspective on the problem. I found this refreshing, although I’m unsure of whether or not the filmmakers intended this. That said, Besson as producer had to have been a positive influence, as this film was–like Leon–driven primarily by its central relationship… and in each case it is a father figure/daughter figure relationship… more to come in my review later…
on Feb 05 2009 @ 11:22 am 6. Nick Plowman said …
I liked the film a bit when I saw it, I mean, I didn’t check my watch every ten minutes like I do with most action movies (it’s not them, it’s me, I hate the genre) and pretty much enjoyed myself. That’s saying something.
on Feb 05 2009 @ 11:28 am 7. Evan Derrick said …
It’s interesting that you connected primarily to the emotional element in the film, Alexander. That was a vital part of the film’s success (you had to want Liam Neeson to save his daughter and believe in his conviction in order to take satisfaction from his revenge), but wasn’t where I connected (obviously).
*SPOILERS*
I found the brutal executions of the final masterminds much more gratifying than the act of saving the daughter. Put another way, I didn’t care whether or not she died as long as Neeson dished out enough punishment.
And on Leon, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that Leon and the girl’s relationship is primarily a romantic one? (have you seen the director’s cut of the film?) Leon is essentially a man-child, and the girl is wise beyond her years, making them an equal match emotionally. For some that was creepy, but I found it sweet. I think that you could argue for that perspective on the relationship more effectively than that it was a father/daughter one.
on Feb 05 2009 @ 12:23 pm 8. Alexander Coleman said …
Yes, you do make a solid case, Evan, especially as far as Leon’s director’s cut goes–that is a far more quixotically romantic relationship than a typical father/daughter relationship. And of course in Taken, the father’s uncontrollable love for his daughter is made an act of redemption of sorts, for not being there. In that way, the film functions as a kind of fatherly fantasy for missing dads who have lost almost all connection to their progeny. The Neeson character can’t match the Xander Berkeley character’s resources, but step by step, the film makes it plain that he is the indispensable father.
I’m glad Neeson was able to use some of the martial arts knowledge he attained for Batman Begins again.
on Feb 05 2009 @ 12:52 pm 9. Evan Derrick said …
There’s an interesting essay in there somewhere on the ways in which Neeson’s character becomes our surrogate. As you mention, a surrogate for absentee fathers, and as I indicated, a surrogate for our deep need for justice.
Neeson was, indeed, very impressive here. How old is the guy and he’s doing almost all of his own stunts?
on Feb 05 2009 @ 8:49 pm 10. Sam Juliano said …
I wasn’t rushing to see this but this most-accomplished consideration of it (and the 4 of 5 review) does translate to a visit to the multiplex, which I must work in with CORALINE.
“After the day’s tragic avalanche of internet headlines and bobble-headed pundits and evening news zingers (”Child found decapitated! More at 11!”), you just want to see Evil receive its righteous comeuppance.”
Amen to that Evan. Edgewater multiplex, here I come. Great review, I hung with every word.
on Feb 05 2009 @ 8:52 pm 11. Evan Derrick said …
Thanks, Sam. Just remember (as I think I noted in my review) – there are a lot of flaws here. As Luke mentioned above, it certainly isn’t a great film, but arguably a very good one, at least in the context in which it exists. Definitely, definitely, definitely worth a trip to the cineplex (glad you’re gonna make it part of a double feature!), but be sure to keep your expectations just slightly in check. I don’t want you to be disappointed.
on Feb 06 2009 @ 10:28 am 12. Film-Book dot Com said …
Nice review Evan. I tend to look more on the film’s strenghts than its weaknesses.
Taken is a slice of fallacious justice for the injustices of the world.
The DVD and Blu-ray for Taken are already out in Europe in an extended cut. Its time to get multi-region DVD player folks. I’ve had this film since last July.
on Feb 06 2009 @ 12:27 pm 13. Evan Derrick said …
I think I knew that, Reggie. I wonder what the delay was in releasing the film stateside.
on Feb 06 2009 @ 6:26 pm 14. Film-Book dot Com said …
I don’t believe Fox knew how to market it. They ended up using the best part of the trailer for the commercial.
on Feb 07 2009 @ 12:55 am 15. Ryan Dunlap said …
Just got back from seeing it with my wife… she had my arm clenched fairly tight throughout the whole thing… This was probably the most emotional I’ve ever gotten for an action flick, I must say.
This movie felt like playing a first person shooter with the invincibility code on, which was something I would tend to do in college and got the same ‘righteous anger’ quenched.
Overall, I would say it wasn’t deep, but very primal, and it carried out its promise in spades. And yes, there was a lot of audible cheering (went for a 9:15 showing and found it sold out and waited for the mostly full 10:25 show).
on Feb 07 2009 @ 7:47 am 16. Evan Derrick said …
Well, if the delay had to do with confusion over how to market, then they were smart to wait, because I think this has been one of the most effective and marketing campaigns I’ve seen in quite a while. It made $25 mil (on Super Bowl weekend, no less) and won the weekend, and Liam Neeson, while being recognizable, is certainly not a box office draw. I would have probably given this one a pass if not for the trailer, which I instantly loved.
And that’s awesome, Ryan (first-person shooter with the invincibility code on – wish I had thought of that one). Glad you and the wifey enjoyed it.
on Feb 07 2009 @ 11:36 am 17. Film-Book dot Com said …
Of all the films delayed and fraked over, this is one of the only success stories that comes to mind.
on Feb 07 2009 @ 1:36 pm 18. Ryan Dunlap said …
I totally get the surrogate thing too… Sarah kept saying, “I want Liam Neeson to be *my* dad!”
Also, in the first act I thought they might have been laying it on a little thick (ok, slathering) about how he felt about his daughter with plenty of reaction shots to him looking at pictures of her, etc…
…but for me, I think it totally made the ending of the movie hammer home. I’m not sure if I would have gotten as emotionally attached to him if they hadn’t overdone it (it’s such a short movie anyway).
Lastly, I’m glad Maggie Grace played the daughter that way… it helped me forget how annoying I thought her character was on Lost (one who I would only halfheartedly cheer Liam Neeson on for trying to rescue…)
on Feb 09 2009 @ 9:14 am 19. Rick Olson said …
Nice review, Evan.
“Extensive torture sessions”: looks like it was made for the “24″ (or the Bush administration) crowd.
on Feb 09 2009 @ 11:07 am 20. Luke Harrington said …
Nope, Rick — it’s a French film!
I mean, a FREEDOM film!
U.S.A.!!! U.S.A.!!!
on Feb 09 2009 @ 11:41 am 21. Ryan Dunlap said …
Was it just me or did I miss the scene they keep putting in the trailer of him slamming the rods into the guy’s legs? I know the US version was missing 2 minutes from the international version…
Did I blink?
on Feb 09 2009 @ 2:26 pm 22. Evan Derrick said …
Maybe. I think I remember that scene, but I can’t say for sure.
And Rick, if only torture had been this much fun under the Bush administration! Water boarding can’t hold a candle to Neeson sending 2000 volts through some poor Albanian!
on Feb 10 2009 @ 8:22 am 23. Maurice said …
From Evan’s review:
“There is a moment in the film that encapsulates the thrill that Taken offers, a moment so deliciously realized that even the marketing team couldn’t pass it up. Mills’ daughter contacts him by phone when masked men enter her apartment, and after she is taken, he has one chance to speak to her kidnapper: “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career; skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” This is a one-note role for Neeson, who’s done much richer work before (Kinsey, Rob Roy, Schindler’s List), but he sells the conviction of that one line so fully that it is impossible to look away. Taken, in a nutshell, is that one line and the fulfillment of its promise. Watch the trailer. If you get chills as Neeson calmly delivers his ultimatum, then run to the theater; you will not be disappointed”
I include this section of the review because, interstingly enough, my firend Kim and I had this conversation last night. She argued that one good scene in an otherwise shabby film could save said stinker from a bad review and even regulate it onto a must see repeatedly list. To which, I agree. She mentionED the library scene in “Atonement” as an example of such a film.
I picked “The 13th Warrior” which I have always regarded as the ultimate guy film and gave the following reason:
“I am a big fan of “The 13th Warrior” which I have no doubt you never saw. Don’t bother, it’s a guy movie and most of them hate it. Rather mundane, Antonio Banderas is the only star. Lots of swords, dirt, sweat, horses and blood. If it were a western it would be called an “oater” back in the day.
But at the final battle, there is a scene when the Vikings recite their death poem:
“Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning. Lo they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla where the brave may live forever.”
The film is not at all a good one but seeing those warriors, standing in the rain and knowing that their death is upon them, steel themselves for it and you can see the resolve in their eyes and they chant. You gotta dig that. I mean, who hasn’t stood at some point in their life, knowing you face an inevitable and a passage of Scipture or epic poem or old saying flits thru your mind? We’ve all done it and been the better for it.
I liked “Taken” alot but didn’t realize that I went to see it mainly because of that bit of dialog. That sets the tone for the film and we all sat and waited for the comeuppence that the bad guys were surely going to endure for their error. As unbelievable as the circumstances that the damsels-in-distress find themselves in was, I could totally see myself going overseas and finding some street rat to pound senseless until he gave up the name of my villian.
And that’s what I want in a film, something to believe in. So, if you will, go tell Tom Cruise that is why I see so few of his films. Like the Easter Bunny, I just seldom believe in him on film.
Great review, Evan. Thanks so much for it.
on Feb 10 2009 @ 10:43 am 24. Evan Derrick said …
Thanks, Maurice. I knew, right after I saw this movie, that this would probably be a flick that was right up your alley.
As to The 13th Warrior, I saw it eons ago when it was in the theater, and remember digging some of the battle scenes quite a bit. I don’t recall that bit of dialogue you mention, but I do recall thinking that, apart from a few stirring bits, the film was a steaming pile.
on Feb 10 2009 @ 12:30 pm 25. Maurice said …
True, Evan, and again, I realize I was hooked into seeing this film by that one small speech thrown out in the trailer. I will say the whole is more than just the sum of that one part but it reeled me in like a tuna.
It’s an okay film at best but, like a Tortino’s pizza, it can satisfy you at the right time. I was also amazed at how detailed and complete your review is. I think, another example of how hooked you can get given the right plot device.
If Liam had done as well as a Jedi, that would have been a more bearable film as well.
Kudos to you.