Taken
March 13th 2010 10:37
Taken is a film that shows even a simple plot, powerfully driven, can keep a viewer on the edge of their seat.
Liam Neeson plays a textbook ex-CIA agent with an immaculate apartment and an estranged family. His continued attempts to be present as a father since retiring have not been well met. When his daughter asks to go to Paris with a friend, he protests, stating that it is too dangerous. He eventually yields to pressure from his ex-wife and daughter, insisting only that she call him upon arrival.
That call never comes.
When his daughter and her friend are kidnapped by Albanian people smugglers, it's time for the terrifyingly competent Neeson to get her back before she's sold into slavery - or worse.
What follows is a ninety minute rampage of jarring and electrifying cinema, which isn't always for the faint hearted. It religiously follows the basic writing rule of “show, don't tell.” People are tortured efficiently and mercilessly without the camera cutting away when skin is pierced and broken. Even when the protagonist tortures the innocent as part of his mission, every vile moment is shown.
Neeson is the centre of this film. When his character is hunting for his daughter and her captors, he shows an inconsolable rage, fuelled by love, through a powerful stony façade.
The script isn't as good as the action, but this film doesn't particularly need dialogue. Aside from one short monologue by Neeson to his daughter's captors, there are no lines that really stand out. It's an incredibly visual film, punctuated by the screams of the victims and vanquished.
Liam Neeson plays a textbook ex-CIA agent with an immaculate apartment and an estranged family. His continued attempts to be present as a father since retiring have not been well met. When his daughter asks to go to Paris with a friend, he protests, stating that it is too dangerous. He eventually yields to pressure from his ex-wife and daughter, insisting only that she call him upon arrival.
That call never comes.
When his daughter and her friend are kidnapped by Albanian people smugglers, it's time for the terrifyingly competent Neeson to get her back before she's sold into slavery - or worse.
What follows is a ninety minute rampage of jarring and electrifying cinema, which isn't always for the faint hearted. It religiously follows the basic writing rule of “show, don't tell.” People are tortured efficiently and mercilessly without the camera cutting away when skin is pierced and broken. Even when the protagonist tortures the innocent as part of his mission, every vile moment is shown.
Neeson is the centre of this film. When his character is hunting for his daughter and her captors, he shows an inconsolable rage, fuelled by love, through a powerful stony façade.
The script isn't as good as the action, but this film doesn't particularly need dialogue. Aside from one short monologue by Neeson to his daughter's captors, there are no lines that really stand out. It's an incredibly visual film, punctuated by the screams of the victims and vanquished.
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