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Taken (film)

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Taken
File:Taken-poster-0.jpg
French theatrical poster
Directed byPierre Morel
Written byLuc Besson
Robert Mark Kamen
Produced byLuc Besson
StarringLiam Neeson
Famke Janssen
Maggie Grace
Xander Berkeley
Holly Valance
Katie Cassidy
CinematographyMichel Abramowicz
Edited byFrédéric Thoraval
Music byNathaniel Mechaly
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • 27 February 2008 (2008-02-27)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageEnglish
Budget€19 million (US$25 million)
Box office$226,830,568[1]

Taken is a 2008 French action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel. Neeson plays Bryan Mills, a former Central Intelligence Agency SAD operative who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped by Albanian slave traders while traveling in France.

Plot

Highly skilled CIA officer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has retired in an effort to build a closer relationship with his teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). His frequent absences made him a distant father and led to his divorce. Knowing Kim wants to be a singer, Bryan buys her an expensive karaoke machine for her 17th birthday, which she is pleased with, but he is upstaged by Kim's wealthy stepfather Stuart (Xander Berkeley), who surprises her with a horse. Later, Bryan's former colleague, Sam (Leland Orser), hires him to help provide concert security for a popular young singer, Sheerah (Holly Valance). When Bryan saves her from a knife-wielding attacker, Sheerah gratefully offers to help with Kim's musical aspirations.

Bryan's ex-wife, Lenore, (Famke Janssen) and Kim attempt to persuade Bryan to allow Kim to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy), claiming that it is to visit museums. Bryan is reluctant to let her travel, as he believes she is too young and naive to be travelling around Paris with only a 19-year old for company. After Lenore implores him further, he eventually agrees on the condition that Kim follow a strict set of rules he has set her. To his dismay, it turns out that the girls actually intend to follow a U2 concert tour around Europe. In Paris, Kim and Amanda meet Peter (Nicolas Giraud), a charming young stranger who suggests sharing a taxi from the airport. Peter learns that they are staying alone in Amanda's cousins' apartment (Amanda had neglected to mention her cousins were on holiday). After they part, Peter phones someone and passes along what he has learned. Later, while on the phone with Bryan, Kim sees some men enter the apartment and abduct Amanda. Bryan starts recording the call, and instructs Kim to hide under the bed and tells her to shout out information about the kidnappers when they come for her. She yells out the description of the men as she is grabbed. Afterward, Bryan realizes that someone has picked up the phone and is listening, and tells him that if they let his daughter go, he will drop the matter, but if not, "I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." The listener replies, "Good luck."

Bryan sends Sam the recording to have it analysed; he determines that the abductors are likely part of the Albanian Mafia, which specializes in sex slavery. He tells Bryan and Lenore of a grim statistic: if Kim is not rescued within 96 hours (four days), chances are she will never be found. Using Stuart's connections with a plane company, Bryan flies to Paris that very evening. Upon arrival, he heads to the apartment, where he finds his first clue: a photograph of Peter on the memory card of Kim's smashed cellphone. He finds Peter as he is charming another possible victim at the airport. After a short chase, Peter is struck and killed by a truck. Bryan then turns to an old friend, Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin), previously a field agent with French Intelligence, but now working behind a desk. After managing to eavesdrop on the conversation of a couple of Albanian pimps, the trail leads to a construction site with a makeshift brothel. Posing as a customer, Bryan notices a semi-conscious prostitute who has his daughter's jacket. He rescues her, killing several gangsters in the process. The girl, after regaining consciousness, tells Bryan the address of the house where she met Kim. Bryan bluffs his way in, pretending to be a corrupt policeman looking for a bribe. He identifies Marko Hoxha as the one he spoke to on the phone, takes him prisoner and kills the other crooks. Searching the house, he finds Amanda dead, apparently from a heroin overdose.

Bryan tortures Marko into revealing that, because Kim is a highly valuable virgin, she was sold to a slave dealer named Patrice Saint-Clair (Gérard Watkins). He leaves Marko to die slowly from unending electric shocks. Needing more information, Bryan goes to Jean-Claude's home. Jean-Claude admits to accepting bribes to look the other way and tries to force Bryan at gunpoint to give up his search. However, Bryan has taken the bullets out of the gun. He then draws his own and wounds Jean-Claude's wife in the arm to pressure Jean-Claude into giving up Saint-Clair's address. Bryan impersonates a police commissioner to enter an exclusive party at Saint-Clair's mansion, and locates a secret sex-slave auction in the basement. Fortunately, Kim is the last offering. Bryan forces a buyer to purchase her, but he is knocked unconscious before he can get to her. He awakens handcuffed to a pipe. After learning Bryan's motive, Saint-Clair orders him killed and leaves. Bryan frees himself, kills Saint-Clair's henchmen, and forces Saint-Clair to divulge Kim's whereabouts before executing him. Bryan sees Kim being forced onto a yacht, and pursues it along the Seine. He jumps aboard and dispatches the guards. After a vicious hand-to-hand fight with the buyer he had intimidated earlier, he enters a bedroom, where he finds an Arab sheikh holding a knife to Kim's neck. The man tries to negotiate, but Bryan shoots him in the head.

After they return to the United States, Bryan surprises Kim with a visit to Sheerah for an audition.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Luc Besson's Europacorp.[2] It was filmed mostly in Paris with about the first 30 minutes taking place in Los Angeles. Recognizable points in the movie are Staples Center, Los Angeles International Airport in L.A, as well as the Eiffel Tower, the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and the Pont des Arts in Paris.

Distribution

Taken premiered in France on February 28, 2008, with releases in the United Kingdom and United States following on September 26, 2008 and January 30, 2009, respectively.

Versions

Pierre Morel stated that the film's United States distributor, 20th Century Fox, forced him to re-edit this film for its US theatrical release so it could receive a PG-13 rating.[3] Later, 20th Century Fox released the original version as an 'Extended Cut' on DVD and Blu-ray. The 'Extended Cut' has more violence which was cut from the US theatrical release.[4]

Reception

On its opening day in the United States, the film grossed $9.4 million, scoring the best opening day ever for Super Bowl weekend.[5] The film has grossed $145,000,989 in the United States and Canada, and $81,829,579 overseas, for a worldwide total of $226,830,568.[1]

The movie received generally mixed reviews from professional critics; it stands at 58 percent ("rotten") on the Rotten Tomatoes index. Time Magazine's Richard Corliss said the movie "has nothing more on its mind than dozens of bad guys getting beat up and another one turned into instant roadkill." Dan Kois of the Washington Post described the film as "a satisfying thriller as grimly professional as its efficient hero" and likens the action to the Bourne series. Derek Elley of Variety described the film as a "kick ass, pedal-to-the-metal actioner." He added, "Besson alum Pierre Morel ... wisely doesn't give the viewer any time to ponder the string of unlikely coincidences in the script by Besson and regular scribe Robert Mark Kamen. From the actual kidnapping — breathlessly staged with Kim actually on the phone with dad — to Bryan arriving in Paris and immediately causing a pileup outside the airport, the film has the forward, devil-may-care momentum of a Bond movie on steroids." He went on to say, the "widescreen package is technically slick at all levels, and ditto the action choreography, in a cartoonish way."[6] Kenneth Turan, of The Los Angeles Times, described the premise of Taken as "a brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times... Obviously, Taken is not the kind of action film to spend much time worrying about its pedestrian script or largely indifferent acting, so it's fortunate to have Neeson in the starring role." He characterized Bryan Mills as "a relentless attack machine who is impervious to fists, bullets and fast-moving cars, he uses a variety of martial skills to knock out more opponents than Mike Tyson and casually kill those he doesn't KO."[7]

The film has been compared to the television series 24: with Neeson's character compared to Jack Bauer and Grace's role of Kim Mills to Kim Bauer. Xander Berkeley, who played George Mason on 24, also has a small role in the film.[8][9]

Many critics have the opinion that the film carries a "blatantly racist" agenda for its Islamophobia, and negative portrayal of Albanians and Arabs[10][11][12]. The Daily Telegraph's view was "Taken is notable mainly for its racist stereotyping of Arabs and eastern Europeans."[13]

Some have pointed out similarites between the film and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1985 film Commando, with the kidnapped-daughter plot and retired-special-ops-father protagonist [citation needed].

Sequel

In November 2010, 20th Century Fox officially greenlit a sequel which will be named Taken II. Liam Neeson has signed on to reprise his role.[14]

DVD sales

Taken was released on May 12, 2009, on DVD. As of November 1, 2009, the DVD had sold 3,926,197 copies generating US$62,769,163 in sales. As of November 1, 2009, the film had received a total of US$288,230,490 in box office and DVD sales.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Taken (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  2. ^ Jaafar, Ali; Keslassy, Elsa (21 November 2008). "New French wave prefers genre films - Morel, Leterrier, Aja lead new crop of directors". Variety. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  3. ^ Exclusive: Pierre Morel Talks Taken from ComingSoon.net
  4. ^ Taken (2009) (2-Disc Extended Cut) Review from IGN
  5. ^ McClintock, Pamela (2009-01-31). "Box office crown 'Taken' by Fox". Variety. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  6. ^ Elley, Derek (2009-03-13). "Taken". Variety. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  7. ^ Turan, Kenneth (2009-01-30). "Review: Taken". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  8. ^ Lin, Bryan. "Action flick Taken leaves moviegoers behind".
  9. ^ "0226 Movies Now Playing".
  10. ^ http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/85680/taken.html Taken (2008)
  11. ^ http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/taken-pierre-morel-2009.html Critic After Dark
  12. ^ http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?section=Arts&articleID=2058&month=2&day=5&year=2009 Morel's latest not Taken in
  13. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/3561225/Review-Redbelt-and-Taken.html Review: Redbelt, and Taken
  14. ^ "Are We Going To Be Taken Again?". The Film Stage. June 10, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  15. ^ Movie Taken - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information. The Numbers. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
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