'Taken' garnered mixed to average reviews critically and still is, looking at the reviews here, a film that divides audiences. Can see both sides, being one who was mixed to moderately liked the film. It is interesting for being one of Liam Neeson's first endeavours as an action hero, and considering that the trailer was an intriguing one and Neeson has always been very watchable and often very good the potential was there.As was said regarding 2011's 'Unknown' recently, 'Taken's' potential wasn't fully lived up to. Enough of 'Taken' does work, or at least to me it did (not everybody will agree and that's fine by me), but also from personal opinion what could have been a pretty good film turned out to be an above average but uneven one that could have done much more with what it had. It entertains and intrigues, but doesn't wow. Really liked the rawness and slickness of the way 'Taken' was shot and edited, and the bleakness and grit of the rest of the production values suited the tone and genre perfectly. It's nicely scored, not intrusive but having presence, and the direction is solid.There is enough taut suspense and fun to keep one gripped and the violence is uncompromisingly brutal and leaves one biting the nails. The sound effects are thrilling in authenticity and will leave one wincing in shock, with it adding hugely to the harrowing effect of the action. Neeson is a very commanding presence on screen and there is energy to the directing.It is a shame though that, excepting Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen, the rest of the cast fail to match him or engage, being largely indifferent. The script also doesn't excite, descending into too much cheese and tedium and tending to lack clarity, subtlety.Despite it being fun, slick, gritty and generally taut, the story is far too predictable and gets far too far-fetched and over-the-top in the latter stages. The violence, while thrilling and well done on its own, tends to overpower the basic drama of the story, so things feel unbalanced. The characters are pretty sketchy.Overall, above average but uneven and more a mixed to moderately liked sort of film. 6/10 Bethany Cox

It looked okay but I didn't like the orange/cyan tinge to most of the movie. Immersive and well placed sound design, almost perfect! I think I detected some dodgy dubbing. This is shocking. It reminded me of Hostel (2005) but instead of intense gore there was a forced into prostitution theme. There were moments of utter silliness where the story was boring and other moments where the story was stupid. It did ramp up to full on excitement and shock. Shocking with one amazing action scene but overall flawed too much to fully enjoy.

Taken (2008) is a pretty entertaining action film that features good acting all around. If I had to sum up the basis of this movie in one sentence, that would be it. It's not the best action film I've seen, it's just pretty good. The movie has been overrated, a 7.8 rating is just too high for this one. It's not worthy of a 7.8 IMDb rating. Yes, Liam Neeson is good in the starring role, even if some of his acting is a little cheesy at times. Maggie Grace is fine, I honestly wasn't impressed by her performance, but I didn't think she was bad. And the rest of the cast is fine too. The action is done very well if that's what you're looking for. The movie will keep your attention 80% of the time. I really don't know why the movie has been loved to the point it has been, I just see it as another pretty good action movie, to be honest it's not all that different from the other action movies that regularly come out. I do recommend the film if you like action, if you'd like something deeper than a regular action movie, then I would say maybe keep looking. I enjoyed it a fair amount, but I wouldn't be all too hyped to watch it again. 7/10.

A father who is on the phone with his daughter when she gets kidnapped? Why not ? But when the father is a former agent of the American secret services played by a Liam Neeson without pity, close to everything to find his daughter, it becomes interesting! Throughout the film, we focus on Bryan during his fight against Albanian pimps, adhere to his fight, his unorthodox methods, even if he puts all Paris to sack. We are with him in his fight and we follow him in scenes of actions well done, not too disproportionate, just what it takes. One of the reproaches I would make to this film is that it is a little too short for my taste, I would probably have liked a few tens of minutes more. This film deserves a 8/10! I was taken by the action!