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Taken North American theatrical poster Directed by Pierre MorelProduced by Luc BessonWritten by Luc BessonRobert Mark KamenStarring Liam NeesonFamke JanssenMaggie GraceXander BerkeleyHolly ValanceKatie CassidyMusic by Nathaniel MechalyCinematography Michel AbramowiczEditing by Frédéric ThoravalTaken is a 2008 French thriller/action film starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and MaggieGrace. It is based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and was directed by PierreMorel. Neeson plays a retired Central Intelligence Agency operative who sets about trackingdown his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped by slave traders while traveling in Europe.Contents[hide]PlotBryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a retired CIA operative called a "preventer", but most likely fromthe famed Special Activities Division. He has retired to spend more time with his 17-year-olddaughter Kim (Maggie Grace), who now lives with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and her new wealthy husband Stuart (Xander Berkeley). When pop diva Sheerah (Holly Valance) comesto town, Bryan is hired for security. After the show, the diva is attacked, but Bryan disables theassailant and gets her safely out of danger. Thankful, the diva expresses some interest in Bryan’sdaughter after learning that Kim wants to be a singer herself. The diva passes along her contactinformation.
 
The next day, Bryan discovers that Kim wants to take a vacation to Paris, France with her friendAmanda (Katie Cassidy). Despite his initial concerns about the trip, Bryan agrees to allow it,later discovering that their actual plan is to travel around Europe following U2. Arriving at theParis airport, Kim and Amanda meet a charming Frenchman named Peter (Nicolas Giraud), wholearns their address and reports it to an unseen associate.In the house, Kim receives a phone call from her father, which she answers in the bathroom.From the bathroom window she sees men entering the main room and abducting Amanda. Bryanis able to gain critical information about the kidnappers in the final moments after Kim iskidnapped by telling her to shout out everything about them that she notices. Briefly, Bryan talksto one of the kidnappers, warning him that unless Kim is released, he will pursue him and killhim, to which the kidnapper replies "good luck" before smashing the daughter's phone.Exploiting his government contacts and the business connections of his ex-wife’s husband,Bryan travels to Paris to find her, informed that the kidnappers are Albanian sex traffickers andthat he has only 96 hours to recover his daughter before she will disappear forever, and that thelocal leader is a man named Marko. He uses digital photos from the smashed remains of Kim's phone to locate Peter, who is killed by a truck while trying to escape. He manages to save one of the kidnapped girls from the Albanians and she discloses to him the address of the house wherethe kidnappers are holding other girls. Bryan finds the house and several other abducted women -including Amanda, who is dead from a forced overdose. Later, by torturing Marko, Bryanascertains that Kim was sold to a man named Patrice Saint-Clair, who showed interest in makinga profit from selling her because she is a virgin. After wreaking havoc in the streets of Paris,Bryan is hunted by the French authorities, including Bryan's old ally Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin), who wants him to return to the United States. Undeterred, Bryan forces Jean-Claudeto give him Saint-Clair's location by shooting Jean-Claude's wife in the arm and revealing heknows Jean-Claude received bribes for overlooking the trafficking.By impersonating Jean-Claude, Bryan gains entry to the building where new girls are being sold,and secures entry to one of the buyers’ viewing booths. He sees his daughter as she is displayedon the auction block. However, he is captured before he can engineer an escape for himself andhis daughter. He manages to escape and find Saint-Clair, whom he kills after learning that hisdaughter is being taken by Qatari clients. Bryan manages to follow the car his daughter is beingtaken in to see her being taken away on a yacht. He jumps on to the ship from a bridge and killseveryone in his way, finally freeing his daughter. Back in the US, Kim is reunited with her mother. Bryan introduces Kim to Sheerah, having arranged an audition with her vocal coach.Cast* Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills* Maggie Grace as Kim Mills* Famke Janssen as Lenore* Xander Berkeley as Stuart* Katie Cassidy as Amanda* Olivier Rabourdin as Jean-Claude* Holly Valance as Sheerah* Jon Gries as Casey* David Warshofsky as Bernie* Nathan Rippy as Victor * Camille Japy as Isabelle* Nicolas Giraud as Peter * Gérard Watkins as Saint Clair 
 
ProductionThe film is produced by Luc Besson's Europacorp.[2]DistributionTaken premiered in France on February 27, 2008, with releases in the United Kingdom andUnited States following on September 26, 2008 and January 30, 2009, respectively.ReceptionOn its opening day in the United States, the film grossed $9.4 million, scoring the best openingday ever for Super Bowl weekend.[3] As of March 13, 2009, the film had grossed $119,597,036in the United States and Canada, and $192,652,546 worldwide, making it the highest-grossingfilm of 2009.[1]Although very profitable and successful with audiences as a whole, the movie has receivedmixed reviews from professional critics. Dan Kois of the Washington Post described the film as"a satisfying thriller as grimly professional as its efficient hero" and likens the action to theBourne series. Derek Elley of Variety described the film as a "dumb, pedal-to-the-metalactioner." He added, "Besson alum Pierre Morel ... wisely doesn't give the viewer any time to ponder the string of unlikely coincidences in the script by Besson and regular scribe Robert Mark Kamen. From the actual kidnapping—breathlessly staged with Kim actually on the phone withdad—to Bryan arriving in Paris and immediately causing a pileup outside the airport, pic has theforward, devil-may-care momentum of a Bond movie on steroids." He criticizes, the "widescreen package is technically slick at all levels, and ditto the action choreography, in a cartoonishway."[4] Kenneth Turan, of the The Los Angeles Times, described the premise of Taken as "a brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times...Obviously, Taken is not the kind of action film to spend much time worrying about its pedestrianscript or largely indifferent acting, so it's fortunate to have Neeson in the starring role." Hecharacterized Bryan Mills as "a relentless attack machine who is impervious to fists, bullets andfast-moving cars, he uses a variety of martial skills to knock out more opponents than MikeTyson and casually kill those he doesn't KO."[5]The film has been frequently compared to the television series 24- with Neeson's character compared to Jack Bauer and Grace's to Kim Bauer. Xander Berkeley, who played George Masonon 24, also has a small role in the film.[6][7]References1. ^ a b "Taken (2009)". Box Office Mojo.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taken.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-13.2. ^ Jaafar, Ali; Keslassy, Elsa (21 November 2008). "New French wave prefers genre films -Morel, Leterrier, Aja lead new crop of directors". Variety.http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117996318&categoryid=2523. Retrieved on 1 February 2009.3. ^ McClintock, Pamela (31 January 2009). "Box office crown 'Taken' by Fox". Variety.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999391.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved on 1February 2009.
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