Taken Review

Taken by Surprise
By John Flemming
Written for: The Index

It’s winter quarter and surely the cognitive flame is dwindling. So how about taking a break, marching down to the closest theatre and enjoying 90 minutes of cinema, free of intellectual overload.

Weekend box office hit, “Taken”, fits the bill and is a sure guarantee to preserve the important brain cells - if, of course, all cerebral functions are powered down beforehand. Fresh out of the action genre school of production headed by Luc Besson that brought you cookie cutter films such as the Transporter series, “Taken” breaks no new theatrical ground but is devilishly entertaining.

The story, which admittedly flirts with the absurd, revolves around Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), a recently retired CIA operative trying to make up long lost family bonding time with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Stereotypically, Bryan was consumed by his job, leading to the failure of his marriage long ago and is now forced to deal with his ex-wife and daughter living with a man who is far more successful. Typical slap-in-your-face irony.

After the first half hour of being awkwardly introduced to this context the real fun begins. And so does the absurdity. Bryan reluctantly agrees to allow his daughter to travel to Paris with her friend, Amanda. Within minutes of their arrival in the city of lights, an Albanian crime ring specializing in sex trafficking (this just might be the first time Albanian villains are used in a movie– but hey, any publicity is good publicity!) targets the spoiled-clueless teenage duo. During their abduction, Kim coincidentally is on the phone with her father providing him with last minutes clues as to who is about to take her. Then, alas, she is – gasp – taken. According to sex-trafficking protocol there is a 96-hour turnaround from the time of abduction to never being heard from again – and that’s exactly how much time our hero is given to find his loved one. Bryan promises to seek and destroy those responsible and proceeds to go ape shit a la Rambo meets urban jungle style, single handedly reducing the Parisian-Albanian population by a third and bringing down an elaborate crime ring in the process.

The acting in general is mediocre, especially Grace’s over-the-top portrayal of an oblivious teenager. Scenes with Kim running with all four limbs flailing screaming, “Daddy, Daddy!” ad nauseam reduce her character to come off more as sugar high toddler than anything else. However, Neeson is able to deliver a convincing performance given his age and his ability as an actor manages to conceal some of his colleagues’ flaws. The cinematography is superior to other films from the same genre. Particularly, the Audi car chase along the Seine River shows off director Pierre Morel’s knack for the adrenaline-overdosed action flick.

Yes, the plot is absurd. Yes, there are strains of xenophobia and some ethnic stereotyping, and not to mention that whole male hero thing. And yes, there is nothing really that original about the film as a whole. But, forget all of that and take this movie for what it is: a well made gun and run. It’s refreshing, in the middle of Oscar madness, to have this summer-esque blockbuster remind us of when times are warmer and our expectations for entertainment lowered, thus allowing to be taken by surprise once in a while.