The summer movie season is underway, but I'm still slumming it at the budget theater for the time being. This time, I caught this past January's surprise hit, Taken.
The film centers around Bryan (Liam Neeson), who has recently retired from being a government agent in order to spend more time with his 17 year old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). While talking to her father from Paris, Kim is abducted. Hearing everything, Brian suddenly goes back into agent mode in his quest to recover his daughter.
The setup to this film is its weakest element. None of the family moments really work, primarily due to the film's casting. Neeson doesn't come off particularly fatherly and Grace is too old to be playing an immature teenager. Even though it's not meant to be a surprise, the film beats you over the head that something terrible is going to happen to Kim as a result of the naivety of so many of the main characters.
However, once Kim is grabbed the film kicks into high gear. Neeson transforms into a badass using all of his skills to find out who is behind the abduction and where they have taken her. The plausibility of how he obtains some of his information is somewhat suspect, but the film doesn't dwell on it, so you just go along with it and enjoy the ride. Even if it isn't realistic, you enjoy the ingenuity shown in order to track Kim down.
As Neeson tracks down the abductors, the film suddenly becomes a real life video game. You get a little bit of story set-up followed by Neeson kicking ass and killing anyone in sight. This is first movie I've seen that has blended that point and shoot mentality into a sophisticated adult thriller. This direction has me torn, however. It's makes for an exciting film, but also seems a bit cold and callous. Neeson kills anyone and everyone in his sight with reckless abandon, making it difficult to sympathize with the character. Yet, there is something primal about the way he goes about hunting these guys down that you can't help but enjoy. While you're not sure how to feel about Neeson's character, the film makes sure that all of the people involved in this abduction are depicted as European scum. It may not be right, but you can't help seeing these slimy characters get some comeuppance.
There is a lot of action in this film and all of it is well done. The fight scenes look good without dragging on for too long. However, there's no real meaning behind them because of the film's failure to do a better job of establishing that connection between father and daughter. The violence just becomes senseless after a while, which can be entertaining but doesn't have a lot of merit.
In an odd way, the film felt very similar to 24, which like this movie also happens to be produced by FOX. On that show, Jack Bauer senselessly kills a lot of terrorists for the sake of his country. He also has a daughter that he has a strained relationship with, yet would do anything to protect her. Just like on that show, it seems that Taken tries to use fatherly love as a mask for that desire to hurt bad guys. No matter how much they claim they want to be away from that lifestyle neither Jack Bauer nor Neeson's character can help themselves from getting involved whenever evil threatens us.
While it makes the effort, this is not a moving film. You don't really get any joy or appreciation out of seeing Neeson rescue his daughter. By the time it happens, it's practically an afterthought. When the film ends, you'll likely have one of two responses. Either you'll have really enjoyed it for it's non-stop barrage of action or you'll feel ambivalent because there was nothing satisfying to you about seeing one fight scene after the other. This is not a great film, but it's surprisingly entertaining given that it was released in the dregs of January. As it comes onto DVD in a couple of weeks, it may be worth a look if you're seeking for some mindless action. Neeson is a capable actor that gets to show off his badass nature on the side of good for once. Enjoy this action thriller for all its mindlessness and don't go hunting for any deeper messages. Grade: C+
No comments:
Post a Comment