Reay Jespersen

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a father who has retired from a special ops combat life in order to try to get to spend more time with his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). He realized too late that his time in the military kept him away from his family too long. Bryan’s ex-wife (Famke Janssen) has since married to a very well-off man who she and Kim now live with, and encouraged by his former combat buddies, Bryan is striving to connect with Kim in spite of his ex’s jibes.
Bryan signs off on Kim going to Paris despite his reservations about her going abroad, and though things start off well, they quickly turn. Kim sees her travelling companion kidnapped in another part of the palatial apartment where they’re staying, explaining what’s happening to Bryan on the global cell phone Bryan had given her. Kim herself is taken as well, and while recording the ordeal, Bryan has a brief conversation with the kidnapper, explaining that he has a very specific set of skills from a very specific career; that he will find this kidnapper, and he will get his daughter back. “Good luck” the kidnapper mocks before destroying the phone.
Bryan flies into action, uploading the recording to one of his buddies and explaining the situation to his ex-wife and her husband, who gets Bryan on a private jet to Paris.
His friend has pinpointed the group that Bryan is looking for; Armenians who moved into Paris some years before and have since become a criminal force which even local underground groups don’t mess with.
Armed with only his special ops experience, Bryan hits the ground running in Paris. There’s no time to waste. His friend’s research concluded that Bryan has 96 hours before he’ll never see Kim again.

Taken works better than I’d first expected it would’ve. Liam Neeson is one of the least likely actors for making my Top 5 List Of People Who’d Be Awesome Former Commandos (were I to have one), but it’s to his credit that he makes it work, and work well. He doesn’t come across as cocky in everyday life, nor when he’s on the job; he’s just all business. But he’s also not depicted as a superman who can take anything that’s dealt to him and walk away from it unscathed. The man takes his lumps. And it was frankly a refreshing change to see him getting out of breath. Granted, it was only toward the end as the climax was approaching (all the better to draw the audience to his plight and pull for him), but it was nice to see a touch of human limitations in a character with such impressive abilities.

In that vein, a tip of the hat must also be made to writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Besson has written or been connected to a few of the best action films in the last twenty years, including La Femme Nikita (both original film and the television series), Leon (aka The Professional), and The Transporter. He worked with Kamen on a number of projects, and Taken will surely remain one of their better collaborated films.

All in all, a definite must-see for action film fans.