Taken

Luc Besson is hit and miss for me. I thoroughly enjoy The Professional and Unleashed, but can't really stand The Fifth Element nor have more than mild amusement from Angel A. I won't even watch The Transporter films. But I had hopes for Taken. Liam Neeson can act. His performance in Les Miserables is astonishing (also check out Geoffrey Rush in the same film). The movie was a bona fide box office hit. However, there isn't much more to enjoy in Taken other than Liam Neeson cracking skulls. The prospect of Neeson as action hero ends up to be more promising than the result. He is a bear of a man and a true intimidating force, but the story and/or dialogue lacks heft. To make matters worse, the film takes 30-odd minutes to set up his skills and relationship with his daughter when 5-10 solidly written minutes would have served the film better. Awkward exposition through needless secondary characters and a pointless interlude with a pop star detract from the positive elements. It's a swift moving ride once it gets going. I can sympathize with Neeson's character's goal - to get his daughter back at all costs, but it seems as though he leaves behind so many innocent victims along the way. And I was left cold by the tied-with-a-bow ending. Everything is not really okay, Mr. Besson. It most definitely is not.

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