Taken (2009) Don’t Cross Liam Neeson

Never has the expression “Don’t talk to strangers” ever been as true as it is in Tooken, starring Liam Neesons. After some punks kidnap his daughter, the Liam drops the hammer and rules this movie as he kicks ass across Europe.

Only moments away from being taken by a vicious band of kidnappers, Kim (Maggie Grace) makes an urgent phone call to her father.

In Taken, Neeson plays Bryan Mills, a very concerned and skilled father whose daughter gets kidnapped by Albanian slave traffickers. BOY DID THEY PICK THE WRONG GUY TO MESS WITH! Mills worked for the government and had acquired some “very particular set of skills” over his career. What kind of skills, you ask? Was he good with computers? No. Could he julienne fries? Nuh-uh. His skills involve being able to hand ten armed gunmen their asses using only a shoe. That’s the kind of skillset I’m talking about. And that is the whole movie: Girl goes to Paris, girl gets kidnapped, Neeson goes to Paris and rampages through it to save her. The end. 

Taken helped pave the way for John Wick and all sorts of other “older, recognizable actor guy kickin’ ass” movies along the way. Rewatching Taken now, it’s easy to see why. There have been some complaints over the years that the movie requires no thought and has ridiculous situations that are far from reality. To quote MST3K, “you should really just relax.” The joy will be drained from all action movies if you overanalyze the feasibility of it all. Taken takes its wild ridiculousness very seriously, which adds to the fun of it all. Bottom line, see where this series got started if you love action, Liams Neesons, or hate human trafficking.

Bryan (Liam Neeson) prepares to take extreme measures during his interrogation of a man he suspects of being a key player in the kidnapping of Bryan¡¯s daughter.

Time until the real action starts:  ~ 36 minutes. It has a slow start but once it gets going it doesn’t stop. There is an action-teaser about 10 minutes in just to let you know what’s coming.

Big bad baddies: Albanian slave traffickers

Best Line: “Now is not the time for dick measuring.”

Best Kill: Neeson comes face-to-face with a Sheik holding a knife to daughter Kim’s (Maggie Grace) throat. Neeson has a gun pointed at the Sheik’s head and the Sheik nervously tries to negotiate… right as Neeson pulls the trigger and pops that human trafficking dickhole in his facehole.

Best Explosion: Neeson is trying to get away in a car while being chased by the human traffickers. The car gets pelted with bullets, so Neeson spins it around and runs into several barrels of fuel. Then, he spins back the other way and hits a trash can with a fire, ie Cyberpunk Future Fireplace. The fire ignites the fuel and explodes. Now whether he planned all that or not, I don’t know but it was cool.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Liam Neesons kicking the crap out of drug-dealing people traffickers.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!

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About Action Flick Chick

Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill, author of the books Action Movie Freak and 100 Greatest Graphic Novels , learned to appreciate all things action at a young age by sneaking into the room while her two older brothers watched action movies and horror. At ActionFlickChick.com, she shares her love of these films with everyone, along with interviews, news, and whatever else she happens to choose. G4TV crowned her their Next Woman of the Web champion, and she co-hosted MTV Geek’s live Comic-Con coverage. Her articles have appeared at sites including MTV.com, io9.com, Arcade Sushi, and Newsarama. Follow her as @ActionChick on Twitter. Base of operations: Dallas, Texas. Favorite Movie: Tremors (1990).
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8 Responses to Taken (2009) Don’t Cross Liam Neeson

  1. vinay says:

    A great review. A must watch thriller. I personally enjoyed the movie. Hope the rest og you will too.

  2. RachsMedia says:

    Awesome review!
    Although my fave kill was the one where the Top badguy sends a henchman back to find out what going on, he opens the door and BOOM!
    Laughed my arse off. Totally embarrassed my flatmate (full cinema, me and my best mate were the only ones laughing).

  3. Quixote74 says:

    Missed this one in the theater but finally caught it on cable a few days ago. Lived up to all expectations – and I was especially happy to see that unlike 99% of movies these days, the commercials/trailers did not spoil the action or give away too much of the plot (simple though it may be).

    This isn’t a role I would have pictured for Neeson, but he pulls it off very well – much better than a traditional “action” star. For anyone who’s read Tom Clancy’s novels, this is much closer to CIA badass “John Clark” than Willem Dafoe (Clear & Present Danger) or Liev Schreiber (Sum of All Fears) – a seemingly ordinary guy, who turns into a killing machine when sh*t starts to go down.

  4. abet says:

    nice movie ! 😀

  5. [A] says:

    Hmm. You all seem to have watched a version I didn’t get to see. Bummer for me.

  6. Tim Cale says:

    You hit the nail on the head. Liam Neesson kicks ass!

  7. Neesomatic says:

    Liam Neeson kicked ASS!!!!! He better do a sequel!!!!!!!!

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