YouSeenThat.com: Film Review
Taken
by Jamie - September 7th 2008
“Bond ain't got shit on Liam Neeson.”
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The humble rescue-slash-revenge film was an undisputed staple of Hollywood during the golden era that spanned from the early-sixties through to the late-nineties: films like Die Hard, Straw Dogs, Point Blank, Get Carter, Mad Max, Death Wish, and I Spit On Your Grave. Hell, while we're at it, let's not forget Arnie's 1985 seminal masterpiece, Commando. Back in the good old days there was rarely a cinematic week that went by without a mans family being murdered, his children kidnapped, or his beloved dog Scruffy getting kicked in the guts. That's how we rolled back in the eighties, dawg. Forget the Police; they couldn't help you. Forget Batman; the Caped Crusader was little more than a spandex-wearing, Batusi-dancing ninny of questionable sexuality. When the shit hit the proverbial fan, you could only rely on one person to get the job done. Yes, I'm talking about the 'V' word... vigilante.
If today didn't require the use of an AK, it was indeed a good day.
With the exception of exploitation films like the aforementioned I Spit On Your Grave, our onscreen revenger usually came in two diametrically-opposed flavours: the mild-mannered family man (think Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs), or the ultimate tough guy (think Arnie in Commando). Well-crafted, or at least competent revenge films were plentiful back in the day. Now, eh? Sadly, the bulk of modern revenge films exist in the realm of straight-to-DVD garbage pumped out by guys like Casper Van Dien, Michael Dudikoff, Steven Seagal, and my old mate Dolph Lungren. It's the sort of crap that's barely worth the cost price of the DVD that the precious ones and zeroes are encoded onto: think quality like American Ninja 42: The Revengining, Avenging Super Soldier Part 7, and Action Rescue Guy 2.
Okay, I made those up, but Christ, I'm surprised that no one has tried to bankroll an Under Siege 3.
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The latest rescue-slash-revenge film to hit our screens, Taken, tries to walk the fine line between these two character archetypes - family man and ultimate badass. When the estranged seventeen year old daughter of a former spy (Liam Neeson) is kidnapped while holidaying overseas, her father must call upon his unique skill set in order to rescue her before she becomes lost to the Eastern-European slave trade.
Liam Neeson kicking arse, and the potential of Maggie Grace showing a little - Taken had my full and undivided attention.
As with the majority of films that limp onto the silver screen these days, everything seems to be a remake of a remake, or at the very least, a rehash of a tired idea - comfortably harking back to that old theory that all stories are essentially just reworkings of same X number of base premises. It's been a while since I read Robert McKee's 'Story', so bear with me if I can't remember the exact value of X. I think it's seven, but I could be wrong. Either way, everything has been done a million times before. What truly separates a stock-standard retelling, from something that will stay with you longer than a half-masticated corn kernel stuck in your teeth, will almost certainly come down to the execution. Take a well-worn concept, freshen it up a little, but ultimately pull it off with dedication and skill. While Taken is by no means perfect, it is a prime example of a well-executed retelling. Let's face it, the concept of a tough guys daughter getting kidnapped, and having said tough guy track her down, defeating a million bad guys in the process is hardly anything new. It's basically the plot of Commando, or a dozen similar films for that matter. What Taken does well is to play on this tried-and-true formula; it adds depth to the usual one-dimensional characters, and mixes it up in a giant cocktail shaker with stylistic elements that made films like The Bourne Identity such crowd-pleasers.
Our first encounter with former spy, Bryan, is less than exhilarating. You'd almost expect to see some incredible action set piece from his pre-retirement days, something that adequately introduces our brooding badass' action hero qualifications - negative. What we get is the image of Bryan asleep on the lounge at home, a well-thumbed pamphlet for a karaoke machine on his lap. He's after the perfect gift for his seventeen year old daughter's birthday, and from what we can establish, he's terribly indecisive when it comes to purchasing a present. It's kind of amusing that after less than two minutes of screen time, we've probably already experienced more character development and insight into our main character than we would experience in just about any other similar film. Amusing, and sad. And aside from a scene involving Bryan making some pocket money by working as a bodyguard for a touring pop singer, the first thirty or so minutes of the film is solid character development - a glimpse at a man wanting to reconnect with his family after a lifetime of service to his country. On the surface, Bryan doesn't appear to be that different from you or I, he seemingly has the same faults, shortcomings and fears that we all do. It's not until his daughter is kidnapped that we see an entirely different side of Bryan emerge.
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Following on from the initial character development, the film moves quickly onto the search for Kim, Bryan's daughter. With Bryan as our guide, we navigate the murky underworld of Paris, our former spy using every trick in his book to find clues of his daughter's whereabouts. Without giving away too much of the story from this point, our lead character pulls out all the stops. The action set pieces are amazing and uncompromising in their realism and brutality, and while there are occasional moments where the suspension of disbelief is crucial, for the most part it's very much on the money. Guns boom with a satisfying reverb (some of the best gun effects I've heard in years), bullets hit their mark with dead-eye accuracy, and Bryan proves that nothing is sacred when it comes to getting his daughter back alive.
As far as casting goes, Liam Neeson seems an interesting choice for the main character. I don't mean that out of any disrespect to Neeson, rather given the fact that Taken appears to be another one of these French/US co-produced films like The Transporter, part of me has this niggling suspicion that this was probably the sort of film that they would have given straight to a perma-stubbled hardcase like Jason Statham. Maybe Statham was busy, but to be honest I hope that Neeson won this role on his own merits. It was certainly deft casting. Neeson did an excellent job, both as a believable family man, and a badass action hero. Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace, as mother and daughter respectively, both rounded-out the main cast very well, complimenting our father on a mission, Neeson.
Direction-wise, relative newcomer Pierre Morel did a commendable job behind the camera. Surprisingly, Taken is only Morel's second feature film, despite the fact that he has cut his teeth as a cinematographer on numerous films in the past, including The Transporter, Unleashed and our perennial favourite, Rogue Assassin. His first feature being District 13 (Banlieue 13), one of the few French films that I have willingly sat through from start to finish, let alone enjoyed - and for the record, yes, I absolutely loathe that sickly-sweet piece of tripe called Amélie. I am a red-blooded heterosexual after all, despite what people might say.
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Now I'll be honest and say that Taken wasn't entirely perfect - I did have a few criticisms of the film. My first, and major beef was with our lead characters detective work when it came to tracking-down his daughter - somehow it all seemed far too 'path of least resistance', the quickest way to get from Point A to Point B. Everything felt too easy, even for a man who used to be a highly-trained intelligence operative. Rather than simply moving from one clue to the next, knowing exactly where to go and how to play his cards, I would have preferred to have had another fifteen or so minutes to pad out this side of the story - maybe even throwing in a few failed lines on inquiry just to make it a little more believable. Secondly, there were a few holes in the logic, like a particular scene where Bryan pretends to be a French police officer/intelligence operative, using a completely stock standard American accent - who the hell would buy that? Apparently the bad guys did. And last but not least, I did pick-up on a few editing issues. Take the scene where Bryan collects a fibre of the bad guys clothing - absolutely pointless. Nothing ever came of this scene. However that was minor compared to the most innocuous editing issue - key parts of the kidnap scene that seem to have gone missing. What do I mean? Well, I don't remember the daughter Kim yelling out any information on her attackers, as instructed by her father... yet Bryan seemed to have it all on tape when he passed it off to his CIA buddy for analysis.
Overall, Taken was a pleasant surprise. It's often difficult to tell what to expect from these types of co-funded foreign films, but this one was certainly worth the money. While some of the initial 'detective work' by Neeson's character seemed very effortless and simply the easiest way to get from Point A to Point B, i.e. straight into the action, the action scenes themselves certainly made up for any shortcomings. No punches were pulled. The world our characters inhabited was dark, unforgiving, and morally ambiguous, and as a result, the methods used to get his daughter back were as equally dark, unforgiving, and morally ambiguous. Forget about Bond and Bourne - these guys ain't got shit on Liam Neeson.
The A.D.D. Version:
Taken is a stylish, rescue-slash-revenge film reminiscent of the recent Bourne series. While there are a few logic holes here and there, and some of the initial detective work appeared a little too easy, the excellent action sequences more than makes up for any shortcomings in the narrative.
Random Observations:
See This Film If You Like:
The YouSeenThat.Com Popcorn Rating:
A very entertaining revenge film. In the scheme of revenge films, this was worth watching.
How does the YouSeenThat.Com Popcorn Rating work?
Well, it works on the theory that the more you enjoy a film, the less likely you are to be aimlessly shoving salty corn kernels into your gob, and a little more focused on what is happening in front of you on the big screen. Therefore, the more popcorn in our scorers bucket, the better the film. Pretty simple, huh?. Think of it as an inverse scoring system.