Taken makes for a good thrill ride

Taken

An overprotective and courageous father brings hope to a seemingly irreversible situation in Taken.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) had always put his work for the CIA (as a “preventer” aka killing people without others noticing) ahead of everything else, including his needs and his family's. Unfortunately this leads to a divorce and an estranged relationship with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Deciding to make up for lost time Bryan leaves the CIA and moves to be closer to his daughter, who is quickly growing up and being spoiled by her new stepfather. In an effort to win his daughter's love, Bryan agrees to let her go on a trip with her friend to Paris for the summer against his better judgment.

Once in Paris, Kim and her friend meet a young man who asks to share a cab and then invites them to a party. Unfortunately, it seems that this young man has another idea in mind. He is a scout, sent to find where pretty young girls are staying so that they can be kidnapped and sold off for various purposes.

While checking in with her father, Kim sees men come into the apartment where they are staying and take her friend. Helpless and scared, she begs her father for help over the phone. Bryan tells her to go into the next bedroom and hide under the bed.

From his work with the CIA he knows how this situation will unfold. He regretfully informs his daughter that she will be taken by these men, but that he will find her. Requesting that once captured, she yell out every distinguishing feature about her captors allows Bryan to use the information as a clue of where to begin looking. Immediately after ending the conversation where he had to listen to his little girl screaming, Bryan gets on a plane and heads to Paris to save her.

Courage and love is what fuels this movie. An amazing plot with lots of detail and intrigue, mixed with action that requires patiencemake this movie a winner. Every horrible act that the father must do is never seen as something bad because of his motivation and determination to find his daughter.

While the movie is a little slow to get going, once it does it hooks you till the very end. Liam Neeson (Batman Begins) was amazing. He is such a talented actor and very believable in this part as a loving, but tough-as hell-father, and his voice is mesmerizing, you will want to hear everything that he has to say.

Famke Janssen (X-Men) has a small role in this movie as Bryan's ex-wife, Kim's mother. I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of Liam Neeson and enjoys a suspenseful movie with a lot of intrigue.

Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. “I will find you and I will kill you.”
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