Critique: Film> Reviews.

The critical response to most action films tends to range from negative to mixed. Typical comments from the negative reviewers will be something like "A comic book film filled with so many clichés", while the critics that actually enjoyed the film will only admit to it being "A guilty pleasure." Very rarely do films from this genre receive high critical praise.

Taken is done in the vein of an old-school action movie: It's predictable, paper-thin on plot, but so full of adrenaline that it's incredibly entertaining. We're, apparently, not supposed to take it seriously considering that a majority of the action scenes are so extravagant that they start to defy logic.

But the subject matter is one that I think should be taken seriously (excuse the pun). Liam Neeson plays Bryan, a retired spy whose daughter (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped during her trip to Paris. The men that took her are part of a slave trade organisation, which picks up young, attractive women and injects them with vast amounts of drugs to sell for sex to interested clients. Forced prostitution is considered a very profitable business on the underworld circuit -- one that many people may not be aware of.

Taken makes us despise the type of people running this coercion. What the action does is make the serious subject a lot more watchable (the way that Bryan took revenge on the bad guys by karate chopping their necks had me in fits of excitement). We root for the character throughout, and the glamorised violence feels justified. Liam Neeson is surprisingly effective as an action hero and I think Taken delivers a tried and tested formula very well.

In going with the wise words that my Mother once told me, if I get a good feeling about something then I'm going to admit to it. So I'll say this: Taken is a film that I really enjoyed and I don't for one bit feel guilty about it. Sue me, I'm an honest citizen.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.