Movie Review: Taken

by Luckbox

And so it begins. It's called "Up For Poker ...and More" for a reason. As the three of us spend a little less time playing poker and a little more time doing other things, it made sense not to constrain ourselves in a creative box.

Which brings me to Taken. My wife and I saw the Liam Neeson-fueled action flick on Saturday night and we'd recommend to anyone looking for some good old-fashioned movie fun.

Taken is a great example of a movie in which there is a clear difference between the critics and the movie-going public. It's not the first time it's happened, and it won't be the last.

Yahoo! Movies tells us the critics gave the movie a collective "C" while your normal movie watchers have given it an A-. The nearly 50,000 people who have rated the movie on IMDB.com have given it a solid 8 out of 10. While RottenTomatoes.com seems to fall right in the middle, saying the consensus is, "Taken is undeniably fun with slick action, but is largely a brainless exercise."

That's fair, I suppose, although I give it a little more credit than that. Liam Neeson is very good, bringing a certain amount of gravitas to the role. The rest of the characters have small or even smaller roles, merely there as Neeson moves toward the movie's climax.

I've heard lots of complaints from critics about the preposterous plot and the lack of any real tension. Well, the plot is certainly more plausible than the critically-acclaimed Bourn franchise flicks (which I love) and the tension was enough to silence a mostly-full house for a late Saturday night showing until the final credits rolled.

We're not talking Oscars here. It's obviously not that good of a movie, but it's a lot of fun, and the word-of-mouth has helped carry this movie to the cusp of $100 million. I think Hollywood is a little surprised at that.

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