 STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
 Classic
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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
TBC | | Cast
Liam Neeson
Maggie Grace
Famke Janssen
Holly Valance
Xander Berkeley
Jon Gries. | | | Directors | | Screenwriters
Luc Besson
Robert Mark Kamen. | | Running Time
TBC minutes |
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Taken (TBC) Plot
Bryan (Neeson) is a retired government agent, struggling to get back into the life of his teen daughter (Grace). But after she’s kidnapped while holidaying in Paris, Bryan has less than four days to track her down.Review
Liam Neeson’s ill-judged presence should not cause you to even consider going within 30 feet of a fleapit that’s screening Taken. Here he plays an ex-spy divorcé who’s desperate to make up years of parental neglect to his daughter (an over-aged Maggie Grace). This involves Daddy creepily obsessing over her 17th-birthday present, trying to facilitate her childhood ambition to become “a singer” (this involves saving a pop star imaginatively named ‘Diva’ - Holly Valance, remember her? - from a crazed fan), and agonising over the fact that she wants to spend her summer holidaying in Europe. Terrifying, terrifying Europe. Yet to Europe - specifically Paris - she goes, where within minutes of landing she and her slutty (read: dead-meat) pal are hoodwinked by a slimy Frenchman and kidnapped by sneering Albanian gangsters whose intention is to hook their victims on skag and sell them to cold-eyed Arabs for white-girlie sex. Turns out Daddy - paranoid parent and towering xenophobe that he is - was right. If a good little teenaged Caucasian strays even an inch beyond the mighty US of A’s borders, she’s pale prey to every godless, sex-mad, drug pushing foreigner out there. Hell, even Daddy’s ol’ French-spy buddy can’t be relied upon to help; he’s French! “Jean-Claude, I’ll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to!” growls Daddy, like a true American. Despite speaking with an Irish accent, this guy bleeds stars and shits stripes. He’s from a land where actions speak louder than words… So cue an hour or so of him brutally pummelling every foreigner who stands in his way, stopping only to torture a few. He even deliberately shoots one utterly innocent bystander. Call it friendly fire. Or rather, don’t. If you took Commando and replaced all its humour (intentional or otherwise) with snarling hatred, you’d end up with Taken - a risible male-re-empowerment fantasy set in a world where a fatal headshot and rescue from a life of inter-racial rape is the best way to win back your daughter’s heart. Interestingly, it’s directed by a Frenchman (Pierre Morel) and produced by his longtime accomplice, Luc Besson. On the evidence of this, they’re now either self-hating freedom-fries munchers, or just knowingly manipulating US prejudices in the name of entertainment. We suspect the latter. Verdict
A venomous little actioner that mistakes bile for adrenaline.
Reviewer: Dan Jolin
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Average user rating for Taken
| RE: Awfull.......review | | | One star seems an overly harsh review and comoletely out of sync with the majoroty of the other reviewers for Empire. Why oh why does Dan Jolin hate it so? ... Read More
| | | ajgr1983 About me | | 13:37, 20 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | An Excellent Detour! | | | This will definitely wake you up! Okay, there are mistakes but look at the direction- only one star? The best thriler of 2009! ... Read More
| | | batbhai About me | | 09:00, 14 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | An Excellent Detour! | | | This will definitely wake you up! Okay, there are mistakes but look at the direction- only one star? The best thriler of 2009! ... Read More
| | | batbhai About me | | 08:59, 14 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Way Off | | | It's alright. Doesn't deserve the one star review from Empire - this isn't as bad as Disaster Movie! It's just a shame that the material isn't as good as Liam Neeson's acting and the dark theme it is based on.
5/10 ... Read More
| | | robwillphill About me | | 19:16, 10 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Awfull.......review | | Oui, Monsieur. Avec beaucoup du fromage. ... Read More
| | | jobloffski About me | | 21:08, 07 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Awfull.......review | | L: jobloffski
Even a cheese sandwich needs to be between breadsp;
Baguette in this case... ... Read More
| | | grucl About me | | 13:37, 07 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Way Off | | This is the kind of film the gives cinema violence it's bad reputation, the kind the Mail loves to write (moan) about ... Read More
| | | ruchiicoool About me | | 11:40, 07 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Awfull.......review | | American Dad, trained in kicking ass, shunned by wifey for being a man who kicks ass, proves his ass kicking ways are best by being proved right to fear for his daughter and running to the rescue, kicking ass all the way, daddy was right all along, everyone should have listened to him because he kicks ass, and best of all, never has to face any consequences to his actions, because it's okay to kick and kill ass, if you need to prove you are, in fact, a manly man.
There's nothing wrong with... Read More
| | | jobloffski About me | | 13:10, 06 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Awfull.......review | | | What an awfull review, i wonder if the guy spent the time to watch the film or did he just watch the trailer. While it is'nt a masterpiece it's still worth a watch having seen it a couple of time's i can't pick any faults with it, Neeson is brilliant he run's, he fight's, he does everything you would expect him to do to get his daughter back.. The reviewer clearly is'nt a fan of the U.S and A but that is by no means a reason to judge a film. Its brilliant pick it up for a couple of quid and yo... Read More
| | | the_1dude About me | | 18:13, 05 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: RE: | | I really don't get why people think taken is shit, while not a masterpeice I thought it a solid action flick and Neeson was perfectly up to the job. obe star movies are things like master of disguise or battlefield earth, this is nowhere near as bad as those films. a solid 3 stars. ... Read More
| | | genejoke About me | | 11:37, 05 January 2010 | Report This Post | |
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