Taken

This action thriller stars Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA agent whose dedication to his work (and absences from the family home) have caused the break up of his marriage. He is devoted to his teenage daughter, though, and despite misgivings he gives permission for her to holiday with a friend in Paris. Almost immediately upon arrival the two girls are kidnapped and Bryan sets out to find his daughter and leaves chaos and bodies in his wake as he single-mindedly pursues the gangsters who plan to sell his daughter into slavery.

The concept of a man searching desperately for a loved one while in Paris will be familiar to anyone who's seen Frantic but imagine that film with Jack Bauer (in a very bad mood) instead of Harrison Ford. The problem with this film as far as I was concerned was that as Mills is ex-CIA, he still has contacts in Paris so isn't as helpless as anyone else would be in a similar situation and you're never in serious doubt that he'll find his quarry within the 96 hour deadline. Neeson is pretty good in the role and convincing as the hard man who will let nothing stop him. It's a brutal film but even though there's a painful torture sequence and a lot of killing there's no lingering on the details.

Overall it's a reasonable film but not as good as the similarly-themed Man On Fire which I would heartily recommend.

6.5 out of 10.

Have to say I'd have Taken over MOF any day - Taken had more of a cohesive plot and didn't waste a lot of your time at the start

I'd have said it was the other way round. Man on Fire was not as predictable as Taken and I thought it was much more tense as a result and also gains from a slower start which builds up the characters so you actually care what happens to them. It also has great performances from Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. Denzel's character (like Neeson's) has interesting ways of getting information from ne'er-do-wells!

I thought the characters were interesting enough in both but MOF just took way too long to actually get into the revenge/retribution side of things IMO... I think they're looking at doing a Taken 2, for better or worse

MoF was great, because of the build up. You got to know the character, got to understand some of his motivation.

I hate films that just jump into the action, without really building motives or given any background at all...

Ronin is a great example, it gives background and builds and builds, there is relatively little action, but the whole film is intense. On the other hand you have films from Luc Bessont, like Taxi and Transporter, they are all action all the time, with 1 or 2 lines of dialogue to try and build a bit of background.

Transporter is a great popcorn flick, it is entertaining and does what it says on the tin, it will keep you hooked for the duration. Ronin on the other hand is the German cinema, it delivers tortillas with salsa and a glass of beer to your seat and leaves you asking questions, once it has finished.

I agree completely big_D, just not in the case of MOF, I thought the pacing was all wrong

Not seen Taken and honestly avoided it because of reviews. The "my family are in trouble, so I go to extraordinary lengths" sub-genre is littered with so-so movies. Man On Fire is a superb film with taught direction and rich characters. Aside from the obvious, I also love Christopher Walken in that. Ronin is oft over-looked and still stands up on repeat viewings. Although you could describe it as a very long car chase, to do so would be a great disservice.

Maybe I'll re-add Taken to my list of get-round-to-it-at-some-point movies.

I really enjoyed Taken. Didn't rate Man On Fire. You pays your money and takes your choice I suppose.

I did do the Kermode question at the end I must say: "But who's driving the boat?"

You can probably own it for a fiver now if you look around, but I'd suggest renting it, good film

Haven't seen Taken yet but Man on Fire is an excellent film.

Mark

+1 yep it's an ace film

Ultraviolet


Yes. Milla Jovovich, the owner of the best midriff in the world is back with another film very similar to her previous ones. If you've seen Resident Evil and you've seen Equilibrium then you've already seen this. Just imagine them blended.

In the near future the population is divided into two groups: The 'normal' humans who live out their hi-tech lives paranoid about disease, and the 'hemophages' who have been infected with a disease that turns them into vampires. Milla plays the part of Violet, a hemophage, who is part of a resistance movement battling government forces.

If you have seen Equilibrium, this is from the same director and has the same visual approach and the same insane gun/kung-fu battles but magnified and accelerated in this case. Every frame has a super-saturated look which gives the film a certain style but for some reason a lot of image filters seem to have been layered needlessly so that things have a blurred look. Faces are noticeable for being treated this way so that the eyes, mouth, etc, are sharp but the skin is softened....it's quite distracting.

The story zips along in a predictable manner as Violet battles hundreds of adversaries, uses a Gravity Leveller to enable her to drive along and up the faces of skyscrapers, and conceals weaponry in a wristband. It's mad! The setting for the film is mad too! I thought most of the buildings had been computer generated as they are more futuristic than anything around today but in fact the film was made in Shanghai and it's mostly real. I really want to visit there now.

So, if you're a fan of the above-mentioned films (or indeed of Milla herself) you'll possibly enjoy this but don't put it on your must-see list...it's too unoriginal.

4 out of 10.

Resident Evil was good. This was not. Everything was completely ridiculous and unbelievable. A helicopter with a minigun spends literally 10 minutes not hitting her on a motorbike. Sword vs. 300*machine-guns in open arenas. Granted, they don't actually show you how she kills those guys as it would have been too far even for this film.

The actual mark you give the film will depend on how much you like seeing Milla. I think in this case even she can't make the film enjoyable.

Did you enjoy the numerous scenes where Violet in encircled by gun-wielding troops who all open fire but never seem to mind about ricochets or bullets passing through their target?