Taken – A Rollercoaster Ride

The Transporter story writer, Luc Besson sure knows how to produce an edge of the seat thriller with a run off the mill story. We admired the Transporter series for the sheer pace of the movie and the seriously funny dialogues. But the writer’s capabilities came into the picture and together with a macho Jason Statham we got to see the Transporter. Taken is a more serious story in Luc’s standards. And the writer, who is French, does not leave out the beautiful Marseille and the awesome chase sequences that have always been the hallmark of his movies. He is one of my favorite writers (Taxi, Transporter, Lyon).
Taken is about an ex CIA spy, Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson(WOW!!), wants to be with her estranged daughter, Kim, (Maggie Grace), who is an aspiring singer and is living with her mother and a rich step father. She wants to go to Paris with her friend for a vacation but Bryan is very circumspect about her leaving. But she goes, only after he approves for it. Bryan’s fears about Kim going alone come to life as she’s kidnapped there for ransom. But, his CIA skills still intact, he records the conversation with the kidnapper and sends it to his friend who identifies them. The story does seem to be a ‘heard before one’, but the screenplay is so fast that you feel it is all new.



Bryan goes to Paris to save his daughter and there begins the one-man up against the big mob. The rest of the movie is about how Bryan finds about the underworld activities and how he saves his daughter. The chase sequences, especially the one involving near the airport are awesome. The tactics used by Bryan, are both instinctive and explosive. The fighting art, which impressed me so much, is Shinsai Goshin Kai, and you won’t believe, he is 54 years old and makes you wonder why he has not acted more movies of this genre. Only Liam could have done this. The movie moves so fast that you want to watch it again just in case if you have missed out some of the extraordinary scenes.


The camera work is top quality(Michel Abramowicz) and editing is professional, especially in the stunt and chase sequences. It is hard to believe that the movie’s run time is only 93 minutes, but those 93 minutes will surely be the fastest of your lives.


Go get the DVD and grab a Popcorn. Settle in your couch with a 5.1 around you.


Taken-4/5