July 28, 2008
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Old school ass-kickery.Leave it to French film guru Luc Besson and B13 director Pierre Morel to reinvent the kidnap caper. The duo's sleek, uncomplicated 2008 action thriller Taken tackles the overused "parent rescuing abducted child" scenario and gives it a good swift kick in the cinematic gonads, resulting in a truly intense, impossibly enjoyable picture which zips along at an unbelievably fast pace. But let's get one thing straight -- Taken is not a deep movie, nor does it strive to be. The first thirty minutes are almost too hockey to endure, especially when Neeson and his military buddies are discussing our hero's penchant for abandoning covert operations in order to make birthday phone calls to his beloved daughter. However, after the girl and her friend are snatched, the film ditches the sappiness for several highly engaging fight scenes, car chases, and more than a handful of nail-biting shoot-outs. There are moments, unfortunately, when the film feels like a Steven Seagal vehicle with a snappier cast and a bigger budget, especially in terms of character motivation and plotting. That said, once Neeson begins his brutal assault on his daughter's kidnappers, you'll forgive the film its shortcomings. Outside of Wanted, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better popcorn flick this year.
Recipe For Success: A New Twist On An Old Premise + Liam Neeson's Fists Of Fury + France Is Kind Of Dangerous
Lessons From Luc Besson: A good story always comes secondary to incredible action.
It's very easy to distract people with violence.
3 Spasms:
God damn it! I love these Besson quickies. I need to see this right now.
Yeah, thanks for the review. Hadn't heard of this one. Will have to watch it this coming weekend.
I liked this quite a bit too. I'd been looking forward to it because the director's last picture was District B13.
I just watched Kill Switch as well, and it's kind of weird that French directors and Liam Neeson are making much better Steven Seagal movies than Steven Seagal.
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