Rent Taken (2008)

Far from great - Taken review by CP Customer

I have to disagree. This is nothing more than a poorly finished B-movie/video nasty with only the presence of Liam Neeson confusing matters. While he brings a real intense physicality to the role, the fact that he systematically butchers his way through the local ethnic population leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Despite the character's background, he shows no respect for life or the law and nothing will stop him rescuing his daughter from a terrible fate. The strong desire of a father to protect his offspring is understandable to us all, but not twisted to this extent. And if you do watch the film then just ask yourself, who is driving the boat?

More enjoyable than I was expecting - Taken review by CP Customer

So most of the other reviews are on the button. There is a lot of violence that seems un-necessary in order to extract the information but the time scale measured in hours sort of compliments the no-nonsense approach. There were also a couple of well thought out "told you so's" and there is no mistaking that Liam Neeson saved the film. Quite an eye opener on the shadowy world of human trafficking.

Overal much better than I thought it would be considering it was a filler on my list!

A Real Thriller - Taken review by CP Customer

I enjoyed this more than I expected, and found myself really on the edge of my seat at times. We can all pick faults with all the bits that aren't shown like, "What happened to the prostitute he rescued" "Why did he not keep his ex-wife informed about what was happening, and why didn't they come over as well" "What happened to his daughters friend and how about her family" "Do the corrupt french police get their comeuppence" "How come he doesn't get any come back over killing dozens of people". But we can make a list of similar things about every film.

A brilliant little action film with plenty of heart, great stunts & a brilliant Neeson - Taken review by TB

Before Taken, Liam Neeson was an actor who was known for many film roles, whether it was a Jedi, a sex therapist, a union leader or a rescuer of hundreds of Jews who would have been slaughtered by the Nazi death machine. Then Luc Besson & Pierre Morel came calling, offering him the lead in their new action film. And the rest, as they say, is history...

Bryan Mills is a single dad who is filled with not only a profound guilt about the breakdown of his family unit but also a fear that his daughter will one day be harmed by some of the people that Mills deals with in his line of work. That line of work is espionage, security and a previous life as part of an elite military unit. However, these days he lives alone in a small house & spends his days obsessing over which karaoke machine to buy his daughter for her birthday. When she then asks to be allowed to follow a band over Europe, despite his better judgement, he agrees. Obviously, the proverbial then hits the fan and Mills has to race against time to track down his daughter.

The best thing about Taken is quite simply that it is an unbelievably tightly made action thriller. Although there are a couple of sequences that go on a little too long & a few things that don't hold up to scrutiny, as a whole it is an incredibly well-made & genuinely gripping film. Neeson himself is incredible with how he handles the action scenes, bearing in mind he was in his late 50's when he shot it. The script is simple, direct & tells it's story well.

For me, even though I give it 4 stars and do enjoy it, there is one quite big problem with it which almost no-one else apart from a couple of professional reviewer's have commented on: there is an unbelievable whiff of racism throughout the whole film, mixed in with irony. Anyone who isn't American is a baddie, and Mills will lecture them about American values even though he has a thick Irish accent... The irony is off the charts here, but it does at times come across as quite unpleasant. The one review I remember picking up on this said: "It's basically a film where a group of dirty Albanian b*******s kidnap an American girl then traffic her through France overseen by dirty French b*******s then sell her to dirty Arab b*******s." As much as it is a crude view, it doesn't mean there isn't a lot of truth in it.

However, on its own merits as a film, it's an enjoyable & thrilling romp and perfect Friday night viewing when you want to have a laugh & not take it too seriously.

Loved this film - Taken review by Mitch

I was riveted by the film, I thought Liam Neeson was great. Just don't watch it if you're a young female thinking of travelling abroad with your mates though!

Fantastic Film - Taken review by CP Customer

This is a MUST watch film. Fantastic action. James Bond meets Jason Bourne. Great acting and one of my all time fav films.

Stereotypical views of rest of world from US point of view - Taken review by CP Customer

SPOILER ALERT

If you like car chases, a high body count, and all-action heroes, then this is a film for you. It made me angry and despairing. Neeson's character is, as said above, a former special agent. When his estranged daughter wants to go to Paris for the summer with a friend, overprotective dad says "I'm not having her put at risk", However, Mum wins, the daughter goes, and needless to say is kidnapped almost straight away by an Albanian gang, who run a human trafficking operation. After a hundred or so deaths and chases, Neeson rescues his drugged-up daughter just as she's being given to an Arab Sheikh as a a special prize, a beautiful virgin. He brings her back to nice, safe America, which the film implies that she should never have left in the first place. Then he encourages her in her ambition to be a singer, by introducing her to a pop Diva that he happened to meet on a personal security job just before the shenanigans started. Estranged wife and new husband are very grateful to him, but it the reactions of the parents of the daughter's friend, the naughty blonde who is now presumed dead, are not recorded. However, she was obviously a bit of a troublemaker / slapper, so it doesn't matter. If you like all Albanians to be portrayed as crooks, and Arabs as corrupt, and girls as naive victims, and American males as superheroes, watch on. Otherwise, you may prefer to spend your credits on something else