Taken [15]

Hmm. Luc Besson. This isn’t another one he wrote when he was 14, is it? You might be able to answer that if I tell you that ‘Taken’ is about an ex-spy whose daughter is kidnapped so he goes halfway around the world to sort it out single-handedly. A high body count results, although conveniently nobody really notices.

The hype for this film calls it the best thing since Bourne. There are a number of stunts apparently lifted straight from the Bourne series, not to mention the music. However, after spending a long time establishing the hero’s relationship with his family, 'Taken' promptly ditches all the interesting characters and character development when it’s time for the action. You get about sixty minutes of non-stop shooting and chop-socky, but little to keep you involved emotionally. For once in a daughter-gets-kidnapped-must-go-rescue flick, the daughter isn’t completely irritating and the depiction of human trafficking seems convincing rather than voyeuristic. Nevertheless, the film’s best moments are the scenes when Famke Janssen (the mother) and Maggie Grace (the daughter) try to get round the wishes of Liam Neeson (the father) about his daughter’s care. There is something recognisable in Janssen’s attempts to hurt Neeson, but not in the stream of faceless villains and clockwork action that follow.

Entertaining, but lacking a soul for too much of the running time. Without something to care about, you’re just watching shapes moving about on a screen.

Big Ass Lunar (Unverified), 04/10/08

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