Film Review
Taken (2008)
This film starring Liam Neeson is one of my favourite films of all time. It is filled with everything I look for in a film, from suspense, eeriness, huge build ups of tension, foot chases, car chases and heart in mouth moments, this really is a film to feast your eyes on.
The film sees Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson, an ex CIA agent, attempt to rescue back his 17-year-old daughter Kim who is abducted from a gang of Albanian sex traffickers in Paris, after flying there to be with her friend Amanda. Kim had actually masked the truth of their trip away as instead the two friends were planning to follow U2 on their European tour.
When back at the apartment Kim sees her friend Amanda being grabbed and taken away by two men and in her panic follows directions from her dad on the phone and hides under a bed in the nearest room. Following this, Kim is dragged out by the feet, but screaming out anything she sees and notices about the men, which Bryan Mills is recording and will use later in the film to his advantage.
When watching this film for the first time I was so engaged in the action, and it even had my adrenaline pumping, as I wanted Mills to rescue his daughter, but knew it would be a difficult task having been abducted by a gang, meaning he was hugely outnumbered from the outset. It is a movie I could not take my eyes off, barely wanted to blink at that, as it was so gripping and enthralling of a spectacle.
I think this film is also clever in the way that this sort of thing happens in real life and from the moment Kim is taken away you almost feel like it’s your own family member.
From here, Bryan Mills, uses all his expertise in his mission to get his daughter back.
What I like so much about this film is how much suspense it possesses throughout, how it portrays Bryan demonstrating his skills and knowledge in scenes and how sneaky and crafty, as well as being careful he has to be not to get caught and remain undetected in his mission. The level of tension and suspense remains high throughout and it is this that I like so much about this film, as it is so gripping and has you on the edge of your seat throughout.