Product Description
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I don't know you who you are. I don't know what you
want. If you're looking for a ransom, I can tell you, I don't
have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of
skills acquired over a very long career in the shadows, skills
that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my
daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for
you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for
you, I will find you. And I will kill you."With these chilling
words to a member of a band of kippers, former government
operative Bryan Mills begins the longest 96-hours of his life -
and the hunt for the fearsome organization that has taken his
daughter Kim.Mills had only recently given up his government
career as what he calls, a "preventer" - "I prevented bad things
from happenings," he says - to be near Kim, who lives with
Bryan's ex-wife Lenore and her new husband. To make ends meet,
Bryan joins some former colleagues for special security details
(like guarding a pop diva), but most of his time and energy are
spent re-connecting with Kim.Bryan's familial goal is nearly
derailed when Kim requests his permission to spend time in Paris
with a friend. All too aware of the dangers that could lie ahead
for Kim in a foreign land, Bryan says no, but Kim's
disappointment leads him to very reluctantly relent.Bryan's worst
fears are realized when Kim and her friend Amanda are suddenly
abducted - in broad daylight - from the Paris apartment at which
they've just arrived. Moments before Kim is dragged away by the
as yet unseen and unknown assailants, she manages to phone Bryan,
who begins to expertly piece together clues that will take him to
the darkness of Paris's underworld, and to the City of Light's
plushest mansions. He will face nightmares worse than anything he
experienced in black ops - and let nothing and no one stop him
from saving his daughter.
.com
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What could be a skillful but ordinary action flick gets
a surprising emotional heft from the presence of Liam Neeson as
the hero. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has given up his career as a
to form a relationship with his estranged teenage daughter--but
when, on a trip to Paris, she's kipped by slavers, Mills uses
all his connections and skills to turn the city of lights upside
down and rescue her. Like most of the movies that writer/producer
Luc Besson has a hand in (such as La Femme Nikita, The
Transporter, Unleashed, and many other French action movies),
Taken drips with lurid violence (a bit toned-down to get a PG-13
rating, but there's still plenty of it), deranged sentimentality,
and stereotypes of all kinds. But this doesn't stop his movies
from being effective thrill-rides, and Taken is no exception.
Taken pays just enough attention to the illusion of
procedure--making it seem like Mills knows all the right steps to
track down his daughter--that the movie cheerfully seduces your
suspension of disbelief, despite many plot holes and scenes where
Mills doesn't get scratched despite bullets flying in all
directions or pretends to be a French man despite not
speaking French or even adopting a French accent. What holds it
all together is Neeson; his gravitas and emotional availability
make his character--the usual action fantasy of impossible
competence and righteous fury--somehow seem real and relatable.
--Bret Fetzer
Stills from Taken (Click for larger image)