Review of Taken (2008) by Sebh — 30 Oct 2009

I've always appreciated cringeworthy kitsch so long as it's self-consciously so. Taken is the kind of horribly over-acted, ridiculous, self-indulgent thriller that sort of defines cringeworthy kitsch, particularly Liam Neeson's frankly awful script and delivery thereof.

We all know he's a talented actor, so why did he stoop to this low? Easy money? That said I love the insipidness of the plot, and the fact that it knows that it's awful. The dramatic tone change, however, makes me think that the overall mood of this one is more than a little confused - the impending doom hangs over the considerably lighter first half hour, but was it really necessary to beat the life out of it with the dispassionate performances? The characters are cartoony and unbelievable.

As a b-movie, it suffices as a nice little kitschy distraction, but sometimes I wondered how serious it was really trying to be, and that's what stagnated it. Not a disaster, but pretty damn average and confused with lots of cliché heaped atop the lowest-common-denominator nature of its inception.