“Get Taken…”

I would have never pegged Liam Neeson as an action hero but here is in Taken kicking ass and bringing you along for the ride.

So the story is fairly simple and if you’ve seen the trailer, you already know what it is. Now I know everybody is all up in arms for good stories and originalities these days but the simplicity of the story helps to focus the film on Liam Neeson’s character and the movie’s action. Some action movies get lost in their own stories but not Taken.
The storytelling is straight forward and simple. The movie starts slow but in the first few minutes you learn everything you need to know about Liam Neeson’s character; his flaws, his skills, his family and his motivations. Once the movie picks up, it’s pure unadulterated action as the story gets from point A to point B.  Some action movies get lost in their action (ahem Mike Bay) but  Taken manages to be thrilling without letting things become a spectacle. More importnatly  everything builds nicely and the action escalates perfectly; the best action sequences are saved for last.

Part of the thrill of the movie is seeing how effective and how far Liam Neeson’s character is willing to go. He starts the movie as a regular looking man but as it progesses you get to see his character’s true colors and it’s ridiculously bad ass.  If you watch 24, the character is comparable to Jack Bauer but Liam Neeson’s line delivery and acting making the character feel much more dangerous. Also Liam Neeson’s voice is a great thing and moves up my list of celebrities who I want to record for my voicemail.  Famke Janssen is in this, as well as, Maggie Grace (I think she’s type cast as damsel in distress) but the movie is all about Liam Neeson and he delivers.

Taken is a great movie from beginning to end. The execution, presentation, story and the characaters are all simple. and the movie all the better for it.
Taken is worth the watch.

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