One of the great enigmas of today’s Hollywood is how a serious actor like Liam Neeson has become transformed into a 62-year-old action hero. I liked TAKEN. The first movie in this series has Liam Neeson’s daughter, visiting Paris, “taken” by white slavers. Neeson, an ex-CIA operative, tracks down the kidnappers in a bloody confrontation. While the first movie broken no new ground, it was a suspenseful thriller. Since TAKEN made a lot of money, TAKEN 2 revisited the formula. This time Neeson and his ex-wife are “taken.” Big Mistake. Neeson finds ways to escape from the kidnappers and extracts retribution. TAKEN 2 made lots of money, too. So now we have TAKEN 3. It is true action movie. One chase leads to another chase which leads to another chase…you get the idea. This franchise has worn out its welcome. The slogan for TAKEN 3 is “It Ends Here.” I hope so. GRADE: D
George, I liked TAKEN a lot better than TAKEN 2. I also liked the way Neeson’s character shoots first and then asks questions. I thought he was really good as a cold-blooded investigator one moment and an emotionally distraught father the next. I plan to see TAKEN 3.
Prashant, Neeson does his best with the TAKEN series. But the premises are ludicrous.
I’m in agreement with eberybody it vseems. One good, two much less so. The sniff of money is hard to resist. Hollywood should try a bit harder though.
Randy, TAKEN 3 was the Box Office Champ this weekend. Obviously, there’s an audience for these films.
I guarantee that if this movie makes a lot of money, we’ll have TAKEN 4: A NEW BEGINNING in 2016!
/Haven’t seen any of them–and have never felt that to be a loss.
Deb, you’re right about the money motivating sequels. If you’re ever tempted to see one of the TAKEN movies, the first one is the one to go with.
Randy-It is a French production. Not a Hollywood film.
Enjoyed Taken but thought Taken 2 awful. Will pass on this. Has had terrible reviews.
Steve, Luc Besson was involved in the TAKEN series from the beginning. Sadly, the series goes down with each installment.
And people say Hollywood doesn’t have original ideas. Nonsense. First this and then the “new” ODD COUPLE with Matthew Perry with a stunning twist that changes everything (I’m being very sarcastic here): Oscar is a radio talk show guy instead of a newspaper columnist. The fact that this made over $40 million is more a sign of how desperate moviegoers (like George, presumably) are to see anything in this dismal winter, no matter how feeble.
A rule of thumb: If it opens in January (or sometimes, February) IT IS NOT GOING TO BE GOOD.
I liked the original TAKEN despite how ridiculous the premise. After all, they had Paris. Istanbul was about all the second one had going for it, but L.A.? I’ll pass. (We saw trhe second one last year in Florida when there was nothing much to see, so I suppose it is possible we could get desperate enough this year, but I doubt it.)
Jeff, that new ODD COUPLE with Matthew Perry looks hideous.
“And how’s this for truly wacky? Felix now plays the cello! That’s get the youngsters to watch.”
Pretty pathetic, I used to like Matthew Perry. That Aaron Sorkin SUNSET STRIP show may not have worked but he was good. And he was in Jackie’s favorite movie, FOOLS RUSH IN with Salma Hayek.
But lately….
Jeff, all the FRIENDS actors have pretty much gone nowhere since the series ended. Jennifer looks addled in CAKE where she plays an addict. Matthew Perry likewise has made some strange casting choices.
I suppose there’s some truth that actors take the rolls their agents get for them, but they must surely have a say. We watched the Golden Globes (I sort of watched it, Barbara likes to see what’s getting recognition) and I didn’t recognize 9/10 of the people or the shows/films. George, did you see BOYHOOD? I don’t recall a review of it here (you need a search box in your sidebar). I’d never heard of it.
Rick, who needs a search box? Just GOOGLE “georgekelley.org and boyhood” and you’ll get: http://georgekelley.org/boyhood/
why should I have to type 32 characters when I could type just 7, and not have to go back through Google?
Rick, I have both GOOGLE CROME and INTERNET EXPLORER so when I want to search, I just stay with the site I’m on and search with the browser. For me, the difference between typing seven characters and 32 characters is about two seconds.
I liked THE GREY but all of the others since the first TAKEN have been crazy bad. What’s wrong with him? He does lack depth as an actor–evem Schindler’s List but this is ridiculous if you care about anything more than money.
Patti, you are so right about Neeson’s lack of depth. But, audiences find Neeson appealing even as a 62-year-old action hero. It’s all about the money.
THE GREY was definitely the class of his recent work, but I’ve liked him in earlier stuff. He was good with the kid in LOVE ACTUALLY. Last year we went to see the ridiculous NON-STOP (I was wrong – TAKEN 2 was the year before), which wasn’t much different as far as his role.
We thought there was potential if the TAKEN movies had brought his old team in to help, but clearaly the message is “I don’t need no stinking help” as they were wasted with just a brief scene in each movie.
Jeff, I really like Liam Neeson in A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES. I was hoping the movie would make money so more Matt Scudder film might be made. But it only took in $26 million. Chump change.
Still waiting to see that one. I’ve read rather mixed reviews but he is good casting.
Jeff, I recommend A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES. It’s very true to Lawrence Block’s book.