Taken (2009)

Directed by: Pierre Morel

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a recently retired CIA officer with one goal—to build a stronger relationship with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).  His career as a spy prevented him from being a large presence in Kim’s life beforehand, so she currently lives with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and her second husband Stuart (Xander Berkeley).  Bryan reluctantly permits Kim to go to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy).  When the girls arrive in Paris, they stupidly share a cab with a smooth-talking guy named Peter (Nicolas Giraud).  After the girls arrive at their apartment, Peter’s counterparts kidnap the girls although Kim had time to call her father before she was captured.  With the information he gathered from the call, Bryan packs up and heads to Paris to save Kim.  The former spy unleashes hell in Paris to find his daughter.

Taken has a formulaic plot that has been seen time and time again in film, which makes the flick pretty predictable.  With the exception of Liam Neeson, it doesn’t really have any stellar actors.  Taken really is a B-movie.  Despite this, I promise you that this film is the ultimate guilty pleasure.  Regardless of all its flaws, it’s a pretty awesome movie.  Liam Neeson can make you enjoy him in any role, and he’s at his absolute best in this film.  For a B-movie, Taken is a film with great one-liners, intense thrills, and lots of pulse-pounding action.