Liam Neeson is the MAN

Last night I decided to watch Taken instead of going to bed. I do not at all regret this decision. Taken may have gotten some mixed review, many of which are bad, but I thoroughly enjoyed this short (about an hour and a half) action packed thriller.

Taken stars Liam Neeson as a retired "Preventer" that worked for the U.S. government. He retired to spend time with his now 17 year-old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), who lives with his ex-wife and her rich husband. The first fifteen or so minutes get you to really feel for the guy, he's such a smart, genuine man who wants to patch up the relationship he has with his teenage daughter. Then his daughter wants to go to Paris with her friend, and, being underage needs her father's approval. He's hesitant but in an effort to preserve the thin relationship with his daughter and with the comfort of a satellite phone, he approves under certain conditions. After a couple of hours in Paris, Kim and her friend are kidnapped while Kim is on the phone with her father. He promises to find her. I won't spoil it for you, but I'll say he keeps his promise and does much more.

The film features a decent story, I thought it was compelling. It was slightly unrealistic in the abilities this man has, but it was severly entertaining. The special effects were tremendous, the action was fast paced, focused, and nearly non-stopped. I thought of Neeson's character as a much cooler, more dangerous James Bond. Also, especially in the beginning of the movie, the music was AMAZING. The music played a critical role in captivating me. I felt like I was part of the film.

The film is rated PG-13 and runs 93 mins. I wouldn't recommend it for children under 8th grade do to some pretty freakin' awesome violent scenes. I give it 8 ramheads out of 10.