Taken
15, Nationwide
Taken is the latest film from the French film-maker Luc Besson and is about American, ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) who turns Paris upside down — ‘I’ll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to!’ — in his search for his abducted, 17-year-old daughter, Kim, although, personally, I wouldn’t have bothered. Kim is so irritating. Kim is so excitable and such a pampered flouncer to boot. ‘Bryan,’ I’d have said to him if I could, ‘you’re better off without her; so excitable and such a pampered flouncer to boot. Now, let’s go eat.’ But doting dads are doting dads, I guess, and there is just no stopping him, which is a shame, as what follows is a big sorry mess of the most clichéed, improbable and xenophobic kind. ‘Bryan,’ I’d have also said,’ I am very hungry and if I don’t have supper soon I shall faint.’ I probably wouldn’t have fainted — have yet to faint, ever — but I think I’d have tried anything, pulled out all the stops. Still, I wouldn’t have added that I’d tear down the Eiffel Tower if I had to, as that’s just silly.
The film opens in California; happy, sunny California where you are safe because bad, swarthy foreigners can’t get to you. That’s the feeling, anyway, and it is weird, I agree. After all, Besson is French and Neeson is Irish but there you have it. There must just be no accounting for pro-American fervour and sentimentalism sometimes, although an eye on the box office must help. Anyway, we are introduced to Bryan: big, tough Bryan who has retired early so he can live nearer to and get closer to ‘Kimmy’, who lives with his ex-wife and her husband, Stuart, a zillionaire.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in