Taken (2008)

Taken

• I didn’t have any high expectations for this movie, but I was still disappointed. This wasn’t necessarily a bad movie, and although iconic, it’s definitely not one I’m gonna remember specifics about. It basically just felt like a scaled down Rambo movie to me. It’s actually funny because some of Bryan’s friends called him “Rambo” while joking about his job and past. This movie was very similar to Rambo: Last Blood, which actually came 11 years after this movie. So I guess technically, Last Blood kind of mirrors this movie. The story was great, but I don’t think it was executed too well. It was thrilling and exciting, although there were several small things that weren’t really explained, and I was left confused about a few details. Although there was solid structure to the plot, it felt kind of scattered and crammed together. The movie definitely felt rushed to me, and I think they should’ve added an extra 15 or so minutes to help ease out the story. The movie does a great job of showing the evils of human trafficking, and it definitely helps open your eyes. You realize how anybody, especially women, can be affected so quickly. Much like Last Blood, it makes you think about the evils of man, and how you should always be careful of who you trust. Anyways, I didn’t really care for any of the characters, except for Bryan. He was a freaking beast, and I loved watching him go ham on a bunch of evil dudes. He had a kind of Rambo/James Bond feel, and Liam Neeson was perfect for this role. I think there are very few guys who could’ve successfully filled this role. I also really liked Casey, who was played by Jon Gries. Gries is normally known as Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, so seeing him show up was extremely exciting for me. The music was decent, and though nothing special, it was still pretty exciting in the action scenes. Overall, I’d probably recommend this movie to action fans, although I know I probably won’t watch it again for a while.