Film Review: Taken

.:Before Watching The Film...:.

... I have to thank Viva International Films, and my former radio station, WAVE 891, for letting us see this amazing film. It's been a while since I've been to a WAVE event, so I must say, it felt quite weird but good to see my partner, Gia, after a loooooong time. Everytime I go to WAVE, there's no chance she'd be there because I never go there on a weekend, after all.

.:Film Review: Taken:.

Let me warn you... >SPOILERS AHOY!

I'm taken by Taken...

If there's one thing you can say about Liam Neeson, it's that he's incredibly versatile. After having been a Jedi, he was also a ninja, and now, he's an ex-spy. And that's considering only his action roles.

"Taken" is the story of a dad who is trying to build a relationship with his estranged daughter after retiring from being a government field operative (read: a spy). Having been an absentee father for most of his daughter's life, he tries to make up for lost time while co-existing with his ex-wife and her new husband for their daughter's affection.

Unfortunately, a series of events leads to her being abducted, and now, it's up to good ol' dad to go all the way to Paris to rescue her from a woman trafficking ring within 96 hours.

In a nutshell, that's the plot, and I don't have to divulge much else about the movie, except to tell you that Liam Neeson was incredibly bad-ass in this film, and if you wanted to see brutal, efficient, unstylized (Compared to Watchmen.) action, well, you're in for one hellacious treat.

Here, we see Liam Neeson following an Albanian woman trafficking ring that has kidnapped his daughter, doing everything he can to get her back, including crossing old friends during his spy days, torturing someone effectively and brutally, and using his intellect to find her before it's too late.

It's almost a given that Mr. Neeson would acquit himself very well in the acting department, and "Taken" is no exception. He brought a complexity to your regular action hero type and hit the ball right out of the park with his performance. The many twists and turns for the storyline, as well as his being a step ahead of everybody else all the way was a nice touch as well, because they made him believable as a bad-ass without taking away from the credibility of his adversaries.

All in all, the film is an exciting romp sprinkled with great character moments. It's easy to stereotype the ex-spouses dynamic as horrible, or to typecast a stepdad role as villainous, but this film sidesteps a lot of conventions (and embraces about the same number of 'em) in order to tell a really good, entertaining story.

Give this a watch, if you want something exciting and fun. If you're looking to be bored to tears, I'm sure there are a bunch of other films showing right now that can fit that bill.

Fun Rating: A-
Critical Rating: A-