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Movies / On DVD / Taken
Taken

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Taken (2009)

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Reviews Counted: 157

Fresh: 90

Rotten:67

Average Rating: 5.7/10

Consensus: Taken is undeniably fun with slick action, but is largely a brainless exercise.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:26-09-2008

Synopsis: Liam Neeson is an unstoppable force in this adrenaline-fueled thriller from director Pierre Morel. Bryan (Neeson) has taken early retirement from the CIA in order to live closer to his teenage... Liam Neeson is an unstoppable force in this adrenaline-fueled thriller from director Pierre Morel. Bryan (Neeson) has taken early retirement from the CIA in order to live closer to his teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). Bryan's government work kept him away from Kim for much of her childhood, and he's now trying to make up for lost time. When Kim announces that she's taking a trip to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy), Bryan is apprehensive about her traveling on her own. His worst fear is soon realized, as Kim and Amanda are abducted upon their arrival in France. Bryan immediately springs into action, using his well-honed CIA skills to piece together clues from a single, frantic phone call he received from Kim. He hops a plane to Paris, determined to rescue his daughter before she falls off the grid completely. With some help from his old CIA buddies, he tracks down the kidnappers--an Albanian crime ring known for selling young girls into the sex trade. He quickly takes matters into his own hands, plowing his way through Paris's underworld as the clock ticks down and the bullets fly. His search propels him into the upper echelons of a massive crime ring, putting him closer and closer to his beloved daughter. Neeson is known for tackling extremely cerebral roles, so it is interesting to see him in full-on action-hero mode. In TAKEN he is no less than a crime-fighting machine--a Bourne/Bond hybrid with a deathly serious baritone. And while he spends most of the film firing Uzis and snapping necks, he still manages to deliver a moving performance as an estranged father fighting for what he loves most in the world. The film undeniably owes a lot to Neeson's acting chops. He manages to raise this rather thinly plotted, deeply violent film a bar above your typical action fare. [More]

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Katie Cassidy, Holly Valance, Nathan Rippy

Director: Pierre Morel

Director: Pierre Morel
Screenwriter: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Producer: Luc Besson
Composer: Nathaniel Mechaly
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Taken

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Tries to be a big smart action movie even though it's utterly ludicrous.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 5 Comments
09/26/08
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Superbly directed, with a terrific performance from Liam Neeson, this bone-crunching, arse-kicking action thriller is one of the guiltiest pleasures of the year.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/26/08
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Liam Neeson, an actor who is incapable of portraying villainy, kills about 50 people in Pierre Morel’s movie.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment 6 Comments
09/26/08
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The only puzzle of this toxically stupid Europhobe thriller is that its director (Pierre Morel) and producer (Luc Besson) are both French.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment 4 Comments
09/26/08
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Taken is batty but briskly paced.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment 1 Comment
09/26/08
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

There’s nothing original here, but Neeson is a class above your normal action hero and writer/producer Luc Besson can always be relied upon to provide an unrelenting pace.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sun Online

A nasty, grubby, pointless little thriller that hardly warrants a single star.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 2 Comments
09/26/08
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Seeing a personification of America exterminate pesky foreigners as if they're so many cockroaches does have entertainment value, despite its worrying overtones. It's just weird that it's been made, with no apparent irony, by a couple of Frenchmen.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment 8 Comments
09/26/08
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Tough in places but compelling, this is the best action movie since the Bourne Supremacy.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment 8 Comments
09/26/08
Heart 106.2

Wham, bam, thank you Liam! Neeson is a man on fire: an unstoppable army of one scrapping and shooting his way around the City of Love. Both reprehensible and enjoyable in roughly equal measure.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment 1 Comment
09/26/08
David Rudge
Total Film

With dialogue as convincing as power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe, characters so two-dimensional they’d be drummed out of a comic strip, and a hero who makes Jack Bauer look like a dithering idiot, Taken is hands down the unintentional comedy of the year.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment 8 Comments
09/26/08
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies

This queasy, violent revenge fantasy becomes more preposterous as the body count rises. Taken is notable mainly for its racist stereotyping of Arabs and eastern Europeans.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment 13 Comments
09/26/08
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What a slick, dubious, morally bankrupt movie this is.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If Neeson wasn’t in such a dreadful hurry we might even enjoy the mindless cruelty.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A woeful script that wastes a wonderful leading man, this is a film that doesn't care about anything. At the end of 93 minutes, neither will you.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/26/08
Matt Glasby
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Pierre Morel’s directing style is ruthlessly efficient, but leaves no time to ponder the plot holes or the borderline racist portrayal of vicious Albanian gangsters and sleazy Arab businessmen.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
09/26/08
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you took Commando and replaced all its humour (intentional or otherwise) with snarling hatred, you’d end up with Taken - a risible male-re-empowerment fantasy.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 2 Comments
09/26/08
Dan Jolin
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a proper debate to be had about the validation of torture in so many films. 'We used to outsource torture,' ex-CIA spy Bryan (Liam Neeson) says, 'but it was unreliable.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
09/25/08
Victor Olliver
Teletext

I liked it, but don't expect the unexpected in this French action thriller -- especially in an ending that is about as predictable as a Pine Sol commercial.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
06/10/09
Clay Cane
BET.com

It's got all the attributes of a guilty pleasure - excitement, some undeniably enjoyable scenes and the absence of what it needs to be more memorable and more substantial.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
06/01/09
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Taken

May 11, 2009: RT on DVD: Taken Exclusive; Underworld 3, Trek Blu-ray Set!
This week on DVD, Liam Neeson (you know, the veteran Irish actor who your grandmother thinks looks nice) opens a can of whoop ass on unsuspecting kidnappers, much to our delight... More...

March 12, 2009: Kamen, Besson Ready to Get Taken Again Opens in new window
After years spent in Hollywood's creative wilderness, "Taken" screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen is right where he wants to be: partnered with Luc Besson, responsible for a string... More...

March 08, 2009: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Watchmen Scores $55.7 Million Opening
The adult-themed superhero film Watchmen seized control of the North American box office posting the biggest debut of the year with an estimated $55.7M in ticket sales over the... More...

February 08, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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