Taken's greatest asset lies within the perfectly cast Liam Neeson and the deliberate build of his fascinatingly merciless character. Rather than jump directly into the advertised plot, the film is careful to explore
the anti-hero's troubled relationships and hint at the dark past that allows him to transform into the ruthlessly efficient soldier requisite for the task at hand. Halfway through the film when you discover to just what extent the protagonist is willing to go to accomplish his mission, it's impossible not to be engaged in his brutally reckless plight.
Former government operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has retired from his job of long hours and dangerous work in an attempt to reconnect with his estranged daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), but with a restrictive ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and his overprotective impulses he finds her drifting further away. Not wanting to compound their strained relationship, Bryan reluctantly permits Kim to vacation in Paris, but things quickly spiral out of control when she is kidnapped by Albanian slave traders. Now, in a desperate and deadly quest, Bryan will stop at nothing to track down those responsible and save his daughter from the clutches of a depraved organization.
Luc Besson certainly has an obsession with shady men with checkered pasts, forced to delve into disturbing criminal underworlds to seek redemption and vigilante justice. Antiheroes come in many styles, and although some critics may scour at unoriginal aspects of Liam Neeson's Bryan, the man still knows how to be a badass. In the rescue of his daughter, he has no limits; this creates many more unexpected scenes of exercising an iron will and a frightening determination that finds a seemingly heroic man donning a guise of villainy. And yet all of it feels righteous - it's a testament to character design when the hero can remain the hero even after viciously torturing criminals and shooting innocent people to force a few quick answers. He may not be entirely unique, but this hardboiled, unflinching "preventer" is simply fixating.
Former government operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has retired from his job of long hours and dangerous work in an attempt to reconnect with his estranged daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), but with a restrictive ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and his overprotective impulses he finds her drifting further away. Not wanting to compound their strained relationship, Bryan reluctantly permits Kim to vacation in Paris, but things quickly spiral out of control when she is kidnapped by Albanian slave traders. Now, in a desperate and deadly quest, Bryan will stop at nothing to track down those responsible and save his daughter from the clutches of a depraved organization.
Luc Besson certainly has an obsession with shady men with checkered pasts, forced to delve into disturbing criminal underworlds to seek redemption and vigilante justice. Antiheroes come in many styles, and although some critics may scour at unoriginal aspects of Liam Neeson's Bryan, the man still knows how to be a badass. In the rescue of his daughter, he has no limits; this creates many more unexpected scenes of exercising an iron will and a frightening determination that finds a seemingly heroic man donning a guise of villainy. And yet all of it feels righteous - it's a testament to character design when the hero can remain the hero even after viciously torturing criminals and shooting innocent people to force a few quick answers. He may not be entirely unique, but this hardboiled, unflinching "preventer" is simply fixating.
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