Taken was sold to me as Bourne--but middle-aged. And it was sold accurately. The little plot there is (co-written by Luc Besson) follows an ex-CIA agent (Liam Neeson) racing to find his kidnapped daughter (Maggie Grace) in Paris. The first 30 minutes of the film actually give the movie a strong dramatic foothold, which helps us empathize with the father and his situation (albeit in a manner that is both overly melodramatic and unabashedly stereotypically extreme). It provides an unexpectedly long but satisfactory framework for the next 60 minutes, where the father kills everyone everywhere in every way imaginable. I suppose it is written, acted, and shot in a realistic manner, but the final product is just too ludicrous to be seen as such.Speaking of which, the movie is extremely well-made: action-packed and adrenaline-filled, slick and cool. The cinematography is crisp, the fight scenes thrilling, the pacing tense. And while I trash-talk the plot, the all-too-real sex trafficking terrors it brings up are worth thinking about and fighting against. All in all, Taken is a solid piece of entertainment and I do not regret spending $0 on my free ticket. Anyone who loved Bourne is going to love this, so go out and enjoy.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/