Disclaimer: I am not a movie critic. Just a girl who watches movies occasionally and sometimes shares. So I'm not going to talk about the artsy side of the movie, like the angles and things, unless I am particularly moved by them. I am all about the plot and the story and character development. Feel free to disagree with me and know that I apathetically embrace your thoughts. :) Also, I try not to include spoilers but I can't promise anything...
After hearing definitively that Taken was an action/thriller type and not a creepy/I'll-sleep-with-the-light on type, we rented it last weekend. And quite enjoyed it. While it's a scary real-life type situation, I liked the fast action and the fact that the movie is short and sweet (as long as Liam Neeson shamelessly wreaking havoc on criminals is sweet to you) at only 93 minutes.
Mark LOVED the action. If you hate when the good guy doesn't win every fight definitively, you will also love it. Mark (and I quote) "loved it because the good guy never got beat and always kicked the trash out of everyone." That's not even an exaggeration. This movie is all about Liam Neeson's "set of skills" that help him kick some major bad guy booty. Quite satisfying, actually.
The storyline, however, not quite as satisfying. Overall, the plot is solid. Liam Neeson's daughter is kidnapped and he spends the rest of the movie hunting her down (which you learn from the trailers). It's a scary concept to think about, but not close enough to home that I couldn't enjoy the movie for the action and Liam Neeson. :) But, the story isn't compelling enough that I would have felt like I missed something if I had stopped halfway through. The daughter is kind of a self-centered brat, so at some point, I figured it wasn't worth it to save her... Does that make me a terrible person?
Final review: B+. Worth $1 at Redbox, but probably not worth a "real" rental in my book.
