The only puzzle of this toxically stupid Europhobe thriller is that its director (Pierre Morel) and producer (Luc Besson) are both French.
4 Comments
09/26/08
Taken (2009)
57
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:91
Rotten:68
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Taken is undeniably fun with slick action, but is largely a brainless exercise.
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... [More]
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley
Director: Pierre Morel
Reviews for Taken
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.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
Top CriticA nasty, grubby, pointless little thriller that hardly warrants a single star.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
Top CriticLiam Neeson, an actor who is incapable of portraying villainy, kills about 50 people in Pierre Morel’s movie.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
Top CriticTries to be a big smart action movie even though it's utterly ludicrous.
09/26/08
What a slick, dubious, morally bankrupt movie this is.
09/26/08
Top CriticThere’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.
09/26/08
Tough in places but compelling, this is the best action movie since the Bourne Supremacy.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
If Neeson wasn’t in such a dreadful hurry we might even enjoy the mindless cruelty.
09/26/08
Top CriticSuperbly directed, with a terrific performance from Liam Neeson, this bone-crunching, arse-kicking action thriller is one of the guiltiest pleasures of the year.
09/26/08
Taken is batty but briskly paced.
09/26/08
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.
09/26/08
Top CriticThere'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.'
09/25/08
If it’s unrepentant violence you’re after, you’re better off renting [director] Morel’s 2004 collaboration syndicate with Besson, District B13.
01/30/09
Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen saddle Neeson with indigestible dialogue and preposterous situations.
01/29/09
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 
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
More...
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