Review of Taken (2008) by Lety C — 03 Feb 2014

Taken is a very rare breed of film: It has a splat on the tomatometer, yet it is now widely regarded as a perennial action classic. People have been saying that this film is the finest example of a revenge thriller, that jumpstarted Liam Neeson's career as an action star. In light of the upcoming thriller Non-Stop, I thought I would check this film out so I could get a feel of a Liam Neeson thriller. And I have to say, this film was a pretty big disappointment.

I suppose a big reason for this is because I had EXTREMELY high expectations for this film. Everyone has told me that this is a modern masterpiece that deserves to have the same level of recognition as Die Hard. So, naturally, I went in expecting it to be an extremely above average action thriller. I'm sorry, but it wasn't.

I should get into my issues with the film. First off, the characters are extremely poorly written. With the exception of the Liam Neeson character, who is a freaking badass, everyone else in the movie really sucks ass. First off, the daughter. This girl REALLY got on my nerves. She was just such an unbelievably overblown stereotype of a 17 year-old girl. Her character was just completely uninteresting and unengaging, and she served as nothing but a damsel-in-distress. Second, the mother. She was just a complete ex-wife stereotype, and all she did the whole time was generically bicker with Liam Neeson about their failed marriage. Also, her reaction to hearing the news about Kim was absolutely laughable. Then, we have to get to the villain. Oh wait. THERE ISN'T ONE. The bad guys in this movie are just several different members of this trafficking organization, and there isn't one central bad guy in the whole thing. Movies like Die Hard, Patriot Games, and Air Force One have proven that a key to making a film's tension so excellent is to have a great hero/villain pairing. Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. Harrison Ford and Sean Bean. Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. But this movie does not have a central "boss" or anything, it's just a whole group of forgettable, uninteresting bad guys. Why not throw in a big, terrifying bad guy for him to fight at the end, played by Mads Mikkelsen or someone like that? That would have been awesome! But sadly, they did not go that route. How sad. The only prominent bad guy that I could point out was that American guy who hung Liam Neeson by his wrists at that fancy restaurant. That guy...... he was the most laughably bad villain in the history of forever. His lines were unbelievably stilted, and his delivery was painful. He was just whiney and stupid, and he dies in the next scene. Ugh.

Now, one thing I am very hit-and-miss on is the plot. Well, the thing I really, really loved about it was the element involving human trafficking. I really liked this element of the story, because it was a lot darker than most action movies are willing to go with villain schemes, and it was actually fairly realistic. However, it often became hard to follow. Liam Neeson travels from place to place, location to location, building to building, in a very unclear timeframe, and I was heavily confused by some scenes. Also, the ending is an extreme cop-out. SPOILERS AHEAD. Action films are supposed to end with a big action climax, but this film's ending was extremely simplistic and boring. Liam Neeson just jumps on a cruise ship, kicks a few guys, saves his daughter, and the movie's over. When the end credits started rolling, I was literally screaming at the TV. It was such an underwhelming and sudden climax, it just felt like it should have gone on longer. It was really quite annoying. Also, speaking of action, DAT MOTHERFUCKING SHAKY CAM. I have so had enough with directors these days just abusing the shit out of shaky cam. It just doesn't work. There are too many jump cuts and zoom-ins, to the point where it was kind of hard to see what was happening. The action is still fairly god overall, and definitely kept me entertained, I just wish they had slowed down the camera.

Another issue I have with this film is the overall writing. This film... it's just not written very well. The dialogue, for the most part, is pretty poor. The scenes that particularly got on my nerves was when Liam Neeson was talking to his wife. All these scenes consist of are unbelievably clichéd and overused ramblings about their failed marriage. The mother incessantly complains about how he was never their for them, he said it concerned his job, it goes back and forth, it's just annoying. And most of the interactions with other characters are just bland and not particularly interesting. EXCEPT for the famous phone call scene. THAT scene was freaking awesome. But the rest of the dialogue just didn't do it for me.

Now, you're probably wondering why this doesn't have a rotten score, since I disliked so many things about it. Well, I would be lying if I said that this film didn't have me enthralled at times. There were several scenes of nail-biting tension and atmosphere that were just excellent, particularly the kidnapping scene, which had me completely on the edge of my seat. And, of course, Liam Neeson's performance is simply fantastic in every manner. People say this is what jumpstarted his career as an action star, and I can completely see why. His line delivery and physical stunts and demeanor were just excellent on all fronts, and he gives the film a much-needed dark edge. Although, I DO have an issue with the scene where he shoots Jean-Claude's wife to get him to cooperate. I don't know, something about that scene was just a little but too cruel for me. But whatever. In regards to the rest of the acting, most of the cast did pretty well, even if their characters were shit. And I'll admit, I was very intrigued whenever clues were being solved, or Liam Neeson was looking around suspiciously, or when some quiet and tense moments came on. The film had me entertained, and I had some pretty good fun watching it.

Overall, I must settle with a score of 6/10. I really wanted to enjoy this a lot more. It just struck me as somewhat bland and very forgettable. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone into it with such high expectations, but I had just heard such good things, and I couldn't help but hope for the very best, and I didn't get it. But it certainly is not the worst. The acting is fine, the action is decent, Liam Neeson is a boss, and the pacing is brisk. It's most definitely worth a rental if you've got an hour and a half to kill, just don't think it's the heart-stopper that people have been making it out to be.

BUT.......

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL!!!!!