Taken is one of those films that will have viewers on the edges of their seats throughout the entirety of the film. For those of NeuFutur’s readers that did not see Taken when it was first in theaters, Liam Neeson turns in a great role as Bryan Mills, whose daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) has been abducted halfway across the world while attempting to follow U2 through the entirety of a worldwide tour. Bryan, a former operative of the CIA, has to get eir back. Bryan ultimately learns that Kim is in the hands of the Albanian mafia, and that ey only has about 4 days before the daughter goes the way of the dodo.
Action scene after action scene occur, until Kim is finally reuniteid with Bryan. The locales in Taken are brilliant, while the performances provided here by Neeson, Grace, or Famke Janssen as the estranged wife (Lenore) are top-notch. While there have been discussions about the possibility of a sequel at this point, the actions in Taken seem to lend themselves simply to a one and done, where the story of Bryan is simply laid down.
However, if Pierre Morel and the cast and crew are given the chance to return,, there may be the possibility of a prequel to show some of the missions that Bryan took place in before retiring at the CIA. Still, when a number of action films fall firmly on their faces in the current period, Taken is a film that shows what can be accomplished when everyone is on board. Fox has placed both the original theatrical version of the film and an extended cut of the film on this DVD, ensuring that viewers can either see Taken as they remember or take a second viewing and see how the director originally intended the film to be seen. Regardless of how viewers want to watch it, Taken is one of the better action films of the last decade.
Rating: 8.0/10
Taken (DVD) / 2009 Fox / 91 Minutes / http://www.fox.com