Does Liam Neeson Deliver In Taken?

Liam Neeson is an actor who ha proven very successful year after year and film after film as a leading man. His films have always been very popular at the box office, and he has always been considered a tremendously talented actor. He has found himself becoming somewhat of an action start lately, appearing in such films as Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Batman Begins, and most recently in the action movie Taken directed by Pierre Morel, with a script by renowned director Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen.

Taken centers on Brian Mills (Liam Neeson), an ex Central Intelligence Agency operative who retired in order to be closer to his daughter Kimmie (played by Maggie Grace). When Kimmie and her mother, and Brian's ex-wife, Lenore ask Brian to sign a consent paper allowing her to go to Paris with a friend. However, things go very wrong when Kimmie is kidnapped by traffickers who put her into slavery. Brian puts all of his secret agent experience to use to find his daughter, using brutal and systematic methods along the way, stopping at nothing to find his daughter.

Before the positive things can be said about this film, the negative should come first. This movie will rely heavily on the suspension of disbelief of the viewer. Large portions of the plot of the movie are owed to very large coincidences, many of which are very improbable even given the context of the story. The plot of the film has led to many criticisms from professional critics. Another source of criticism the film has taken is that the character of Brian uses sometimes ruthless and immoral methods to locate his daughter. He is willing to harm (although not kill) innocent bystanders if it gets him the information he needs, although this may simply be for the sake of moral realism.

And now on to the positive aspects of the film. The best part of this film is Liam Neeson. While the character does take ruthless measures to find his daughter in the film, they are not unbelievable. He is a character who is only concerned with getting his daughter back, and that is what makes the character believable. The action of the film is very tightly done, and can be appreciated by all action fans. As previously stated, it has received criticism from mainstream critics, but the film has been a tremendous hit among moviegoers. Taken is heavily recommended to those who enjoy uncompromising action.