In March 2006 (God, was it so long ago?), ThatFrenchGuy sent us a review of V FOR VENDETTA that generated a lot of discussion in Talkbacks. You can find said review HERE.
Well, yesterday we posted Darth Bruce's somewhat unenthusiastic review of the Luc Besson-produced TAKEN (HERE). ThatFrenchGuy read it and immediately fired off a lengthy, dissenting opinion.
“ThatFrenchGuy” here.
I don’t know if you remember but you posted my “Conservative Republican” review of V FOR VENDETTAE a while back. Well after reading Darth Bruce’s review of TAKEN, I felt compelled to send in a rebuttal review, as he’s clearly missing the point…
I’m not going to recap the plot, it’s all laid out for you in the trailer. And, truth be told, I think the “good first act” that Bruce talks about isn’t very good at all, probably the weakest part of the movie. Before Liam Neeson’s daughter is “taken”, the film is stuck in this cheesy clichéd family drama bullshit that I thought was a sign that this was going to be a long ride full of moans and eye rolls. It’s obvious that director Pierre Morel’s forte is not family drama. I was also a bit put off by Neeson’s American accent at first, everything just felt kind of forced.
Then Maggie Grace’s character gets kidnapped, and that’s where this movie really starts its non-stop revenge spy action ass-kickery. Bruce first criticizes the film’s lack of a main baddie and the throw away of a girl who he finds and saves from a prostitution ring. I, however, think those were deliberate. In the real world, is it really just one Bond villain type guy who’s in charge of everything?
Part of what made this movie surprising and kept the pace up so well was the fact that as he was trying to find his daughter, the rabbit hole of everyone involved in this sex trade went deeper and deeper. As for the girl he saves, well as is evident throughout the movie, Neeson’s main goal is finding his daughter, and once he has the information from the girl that he needs, he’s off.
Though the acting was a bit shaky in the beginning, he finally comes through and you can tell his daughter is his single priority and he doesn’t have time nor does he waste time on helping anyone else unless it means getting more information about the whereabouts of his daughter. He uses people throughout the film and he has no qualms about it.
Another criticism of Bruce’s was the “repetitive action.”
Really? Repetitive?
For once in an action movie I could tell who was doing what in a fight without the overuse of quick cuts and shaky cam. I was so fucking happy about it, and I loved every minute of it.
If anything, the action was continually inventive and you can tell that as the movie progressed, they were adamant about using different angles, different beats in the action for the specific purpose of keeping it from getting too repetitive.
Everything from the fight in the prostitution warehouse/camp to the escape from the traders until the fight on the boat, they were all using different parts of the environment in clever ways to make the action entertaining.
There is one shot in particular that I really loved, it takes place down a hallway and to keep from going too deep into spoilers, let’s just say he wouldn’t of opened that door had he known what was waiting on the other side…
Yes, the movie was obviously made on the cheap, but I think that works better for it. Remember what it used to be like when filmmakers would actually have to stay within budget and try to come up with inventive ways for the action to seem big without the overuse of CG?
From what I can tell, there wasn’t a single CG shot in this entire thing (well, maybe towards the beginning when a guy running away from Neeson catches a ride on a truck). But for the most part, no CG blood, etc. It just felt really old school without feeling stale.
I can see where comparisons to Bourne may come into play, but this is far from “Bourne Lite,” if anything its “Bourne Squared,” er something. Sure, the Bourne movies deal more with spy work and those movies obviously have bigger budgets than this one, so it comes in a nice slick package.
But where Bourne spends time walking around being all “where did I come from, where should I go,” Neeson is on a one way ticket to hell with the destruction he leaves behind where ever he goes. He’s pissed, and you better hope you aren’t in the least bit associated with anything that went on with his daughter, or else you’re as good as dead. This guy says “fuck conscious” where Bourne apologizes to his victims’ daughter.
There’s one moment of torture that ends with one of the best lines of the movie (you’ll know it when you see it), and another part that turns what seems like a nice little dinner into a WTFJH moment (what the fuck just happened, for the computer illiterate). If it needs any comparison, I’d compare it to an R rated 90 minute version of the best parts of 24. It really is non-stop once the action gets going, and it never gets boring.
I’m also wondering if Bruce and I saw the same cut of the movie. See he criticizes that Neeson talks to his CIA buddy about being able to tell where the kidnappers came from by his accent when he says “good luck” in English.
This is just flat out false; he gets the information from the entire recorded message, which includes the screams from his daughter and the kidnappers talking amongst themselves IN ALBANIAN. I think the reviewer got his CIA buddy from back home and the French Police friend mixed up. It’s understandable though, it’s a fairly complex movie in that way.
Sarcasm aside, this is far from high art. Yes, watching the movie you can tell it was cheaply made, along with the cheesy stuff that begins and also bookends the movie, it all adds to the B movie feel.
But since when was that a bad thing? Why can’t Neeson have fun in a role like this? Does every movie of his have to revolve around being a Jedi or Oscar bait? I for one think not and really did enjoy this little film out of Paris.
And yes, for full disclosure my name is “ThatFrenchGuy” aka Mr French, but I was born and raised here in the U.S. so I’m not trying to play any favoritism to my French heritage and their immense talent.
