I had seen the trailer for Taken dozens of times, and it looked to me like just another Ransom - a trite Hollywood tale of daddy as the vengeful savior.  It wasn’t until a screenwriter friend raved about it that I decided to see it.  When the credits rolled, I saw that this was no Hollywood film at all.  It was written by Luc Besson and Robert Kamen - who penned The Professional, The Fifth Element and The Transporter - and directed by cinematographer-turned-director Pierre Morel.  This is no trite Hollywood tale...

While Taken goes to great unnecessary lengths in its first act to show us how committed this father is to his daughter, once it gets going, its pace is relentless.  And there’s no corny Hollywood one-liners here.  This violence is real, graphic, and when truly considered, quite harrowing.  This man isn’t tying up his daughter’s captors and leaving them for the police.  He’s electrocuting them to death, punching them in the throat, and throwing them off bridges to be smashed by oncoming traffic.  And when the french police interfere, he’s nearly as ruthless.  That makes it unique; Bryan Mills is a blunt object intent on only one thing - saving his daughter - and the rules of man and society beyond that are cast off with a brutality that’s rarely documented in Hollywood.  A brutality, I think, that’s realistic in a situation like this.

Neeson, who’s not usually my favorite, turns in a solid performance - as does Maggie Grace, who plays his daughter and has some very difficult scenes to portray.  The true star of the film, though, is Olivier Schneider - whose fight choreography is pure genius.  He doesn’t fall into the pitfalls of many choreographers today, having his hero fight like a martial artist.  Instead, Bryan’s movements are swift, effective, and reflect the government precision of this character’s training.

The film almost made it through without resorting to the “bad guys can’t aim even from point blank with automatic weapons,” but every film has its flaws...  All in all, a fantastic action drama with heart that kept me at the edge of my seat.

Note: I looked around on the web afterwards and found an alternate trailer.  I’m not sure why this isn’t the one the marketing team chose, as it represents the film a little better.