Taken (2008)

Taken (2008)

starring Liam Neeson

directed by Pierre Morel

94 minutes

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) decides, despite having lots of doubts, to let his daughter Kim go to Paris with her friend Amanda. Kim says she wants to visit the museums in Paris but actually she and Amanda have plans to spend their time overseas traveling around Europe to see U2 concerts. Kim and Amanda are kidnapped, not long after they arrive in Paris. The people who kidnapped them have no interest in ransoming them. They just want to sex traffic them to whomever will pay them the most money.

Bryan, a former CIA operative, leaps into action once he learns of what has happened. He flies to Paris. He visits the apartment where Kim and Amanda were going to stay. He finds clues that lead him to a guy they met at the airport who was involved in the kidnapping. He finds the guy at the airport and tries to get him to speak but the guy takes off running and before Bryan catches up to him he gets hit by a truck and killed.

Bryan turns to Jean-Claude, someone in law enforcement in Paris whom he knows from years ago. Jean-Claude suggests a place where Bryan can look. Bryan eventually finds Kim's jacket but the girl who has it is all drugged up. He breaks her out of the makeshift sex work site where she is being held, gets her some medical help, and once she is conscious he finds out what she knows.

Jean-Claude insists that Bryan turns himself in. Bryan declines and continues to search for his daughter. He finds out that Jean-Claude is getting protection money from the sex trafficking ring. Bryan tracks down the site where his daughter is being auctioned off to the highest bidder. The bad guys get her away from there but Bryan tracks them down to a boat on the Seine.

Thoughts

Famke Janssen plays the part of Bryan's ex-wife, Kim's mother. She is the only other actor that I recognized in this movie but she doesn't play a role in the efforts to get Kim back. 

I've known of this movie for quite some time but this was my first time watching it. I'm not impressed by it on any level. The characters were all caricatures. None of the performances did anything for me. The story was fairly straight forward and uncomplicated. That's about the best thing I can say about it. If I evaluate it just as an action / recue mission type movie it doesn't do it for me. The chase scenes and the fight scenes are edited together in a very choppy manner. It is frequently hard to tell what exactly is going on. I hate that trick.

I can't see myself watching this movie again or giving either of the sequels a try.