Taken (R-2009)

This is Liam Neeson like you have never seen him before. Being an action movie fan, I like when they take a "real actor" and put him in one of these roles. It is always interesting to see if they can do things you would never expect them to do and do them convincingly. Neeson certainly delivers as Bryan Mills, a retired Federal agent who is trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Maggie Grace of "Lost"). When he begrudgingly signs off on her going to Paris, the fun begins. Shortly after arriving, she is kidnapped by a ring that abducts young women, gets them hooked and drugs and turns them out as prostitutes. Luckily (which is actually the first "gee, that's convenient" moment of the film), Mills is on the phone with her when the abduction takes place. Although it is sort of a silly plot point, it does set up a great bit of dialogue when the assailant picks up the phone:
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll 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."

Great lines and delivered calmly and coldly by Neeson. The rest of the movie is non-stop action as Neeson uses his skills to track down the responsible parties in a quest to save his daughter. This is a fun film and a thrill ride, but I would stop short of calling it great. It is a very good action film, but it stretches believability like most action films do. For example, in the action movie world of "rock-paper-scissors", apparently a handgun beats a machine gun EVERY time. Of course, that is exactly what you expect, so that's not a problem.

Grade: B

Trailer: