Film Round-Up #37

Taken Trilogy (2008 - 2014)
Directed By: Pierre Morel, Olivier Megaton Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Forest Whitaker, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Katie Cassidy, Dougray Scott, Xander Berkeley, Olivier Rabourdin, Arben Bajraktaraj, Rade Šerbedžija, Sam Spruell

Certificate: 18 Running Time: Approx 294 minutes

I grew up during an excellent era of action stars on the silver screen. We had Arnie at his peak, Sly during his Rocky/Rambo years, Van Damme, Steven Seagal and other martial-arts wizards, countless more if you had access to Far-Eastern cinema too, but whichever ones you watched, most of them had something in common - they were young and they pretty much only featured in action films. Go forward 25-odd years and we were given a new action star that nobody could have predicted - Liam Neeson, a serious, award-winning actor in his mid-50s? No, it hadn't been a prank, and the middle-aged thespian apparently took to it like a duck to water too. The first we got to see of him in this new guise was Taken, produced and co-written by Luc Besson. It was so successful it probably came as a surprise even to the Frenchman and Neeson himself, and before long there was a trilogy, all centred around Neeson's Bryan Mills, former Green Beret and highly effective CIA agent.

Though now retired, he retains close contact with his former team (who appear in all three films, though not always portrayed by the same actors) and takes the odd security job. He is divorced from Lenore (Famke Janssen) who has moved on to the more stable Stuart (Xander Berkeley/Dougray Scott), but he tries to maintain a relationship with his and Lenore's daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). We don't get to find out much more about him though (perhaps more is revealed in the spin-off TV show which I haven't watched yet), aside from the fact that he's handy to have around in a tight spot, and very obviously possesses some top 'action hero' qualities too!

I was duly drawn in by the hype of his first adventure which was some 13 years ago now, but for some reason I never got around to watching the sequels. Happily, that's one function this now-forgotten blog can still perform - motivate me to watch whole series of films and burble about them! I am therefore happy to report that I have now watched all three Taken films; here's what I made of them:

Taken (2008)

I don't think there are many movie fans who don't know at least the basic plot to this now-cult-classic original film - guy's hottie teenage daughter jets off to travel around Europe with a friend, both are almost immediately snatched by an Albanian sex trafficking ring, girl manages to call her dad during the abduction who warns the abductors he will 'find them and kill them', then sets off to do just that. It's not terribly original even for an action film and, as is usually the case with films like this, the outcome is never in doubt either, so it should suck donkey balls, right? Perhaps so, but it doesn't, mainly for two reasons: firstly, it's very stylish with some brutal-yet-convincing combat/interrogation scenes, and secondly a lot is down to Neeson who convinces as both a decent, loving father and honourable man as well as a ruthless, merciless killer. We already knew he had the acting chops of course, but it's impressive how natural he makes the fighty stuff too, and the combination makes for about as compelling a film as you can get of this type. As mentioned, the outcome is predictable for the most part, but it's the journey that counts with films like this and it's a thoroughly entertaining example... 8/10

Taken 2 (2012)

After the unexpected success of the first film, a sequel was inevitable. It would've been easy to just make up another implausible situation involving a bunch of anonymous stock bad guys, but I actually like how the story has been handled. The villain this time is the father of one of the main henchmen Bryan tortured and killed in the last film, and he's looking for revenge. He waits until Bryan is enjoying some time off with Lenore and Kim in Istanbul, and then makes his move with the help of many dispensable cronies. That obviously means Bryan has to look out for both of them as well as take out the various Albanian Mafia goons that are hunting the three of them. Kind of like the last film then, just with wifey (or ex-wifey) involved too. That is, of course, far from a bad thing if you liked the first one (which I evidently did). Critics were less kind to this film compared to the first, but as far as I'm concerned the only major thing against it is the lack of the surprise factor. We know Bryan now, we know what he's capable of, and we know what he's going to do to any buffoons stupid enough to threaten his family. We know exactly what we're going to get here, and we get it. It is again stylishly done and there are some highly entertaining set-pieces, so if you liked the first one, you should be right at home here too... 7/10

Taken 3 (2014)

Two films, two big hits? Why not a third! Kim now has a boyfriend with whom she lives, Lenore is still with Stuart who doesn't like Bryan seeing her, which he obviously still does anyway. Then, he receives a text message from her to meet at his place; he goes there and finds her dead! Naturally, everything has been arranged to make it look like Bryan is responsible too, so he has to go on the run and try to find out what really happened while the rozzers bear down on him. These cretins are led by Inspector Frank Dotzler (Forest Whitaker), a smart and experienced cop who knows things aren't as simple as they seem but still wants to bring Bryan in anyway. Despite the addition of Whitaker's star power, however, this is a much more generic offering than the previous two films, with the forgettable stock bad guys I had expected in the last one and a 'twist' in the second half that anyone with half a brain will see coming a mile off. Neeson is as reliable as ever though, and there are some decent action scenes as you would expect, even if a couple of the stunts are a bit silly bearing in mind he was around 60 at the time. Still reasonably entertaining for existing fans of the series/genre but too formulaic to bring in any new ones... 6/10

As mentioned earlier, since the third film completed the trilogy, a TV show based on it was also made which focuses on Bryan's earlier years (so Mr. Neeson is not involved). It appears to have run for two seasons so I guess that's my next stop!