Taken

2009 • 90 minutes
4.6
4.03K reviews
60%
Tomatometer
PG-13
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Liam Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.
Rating
PG-13

Ratings and reviews

4.6
4.03K reviews
Tom Grimes
June 30, 2021
Well, other than the daughter looking like a youngish 42-year old, and other than Neeson exhibiting non-credible endurance that approaches comic book silliness, the picture was fine summer afternoon entertainment. Oh, by my count, he killed about 20 people from three different countries. The feds would have been at LAX with extradition papers in hand, ready send him back to France to stand trial...if the US didn't throw him in prison first.
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Michael Mason
April 26, 2017
Forget the first 10 minutes the movie takes to establish the family dynamics/dsyfunction of Liam's (ex)family. Swarmy at best, cliched, hackneyed. The daughter is 17 going on 13 and the ex-wife is a shrew. Sort of makes the audience not care about any of then. The fun starts when the daughter is taken. Strange, for a super-expert, Liam does a poor job of investigating the apartment in which his daughter is taken to look for clues, but the director is looking for melodrama & hysterics in all the flashbacks, just to get the audience excited. After that, Liam's cat-and-mouse with the kidnappers is fairly good. It will keep you engaged. Sadly, the movie ends with another maudlin family scene. So, when they arrive at the airport, skip the rest. Go make yourself a sandwich.
21 people found this review helpful
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Kyle Vansteelandt
February 6, 2020
A skillful action thriller with a "finding nemo" like plotline, but has a more disturbingly realistic approach and does manage to have originality most of the time. The story treads into familiar ground of a Pixar movie called finding nemo (a child who was kidnapped and an over-protective father who will stop at nothing to save the youngster), but with a powerhouse ensemble of actors and the concept about the disturbing stories about kidnapping makes this movie motivating enough for parents to know the safety of being under the age of 18. Liam Neeson shines as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA operative with skills no ordinary thug can have. He can turn brutally violent and can kill in a split second, but most of the time throughout the film he goes a little too far. Sure, he does harm someone who is involved in the crime but he should only save that for the people who are not gentleman and are villains. The action is fast, intense, and aggressive with fast camera cuts, brutal fighting, and wild stunts. The music score for this action thriller is a simplistic score that is surprisingly effective. Sometimes the music can sound touching and gentle, and there are other times when the music sounds suspenseful, and of course: energetic and aggressive. Another problem with this film is it's content. this film seems very dark and violently intense for younger teens (very similar to being rated R). This film is suitable for teens age 16 and up. The film has some of the most clever and smartly written dialogue ever, including the classic phone speech performed by Liam Neeson. For recommendation: this action crime thriller is worth a rental.
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