Taken: At The Flood …

“Taken” … now there’s a movie.

Certainly one that was a little more conventional than the last one I saw in company!

And not much company, either, for a movie night; just me and Adrian, as Paul, Dave, and Allison couldn’t make it.

Which is a definite shame, as this is a nice little thriller; one that follows Liam Neeson, as retired CIA agent, Bryan Mills, desperately trying to find his daughter — Kim, played by relative newcomer, Maggie Grace — who’s been kidnapped by Albanian gangsters, whilst on holiday in France.

Which is a minor point, actually; the script was co-written by Luc Besson. I was mildly impressed by that, although I don’t know if that’s something that grabs you.

But it did give “Taken” less of an out and out “Mission Impossible” feel — for me — than many thrillers that I’ve seen like this.

Something else that grabbed me was one of the earlier lines of dialogue, too. When Kim is initially kidnapped, she’s on the phone to her father. Which gets grabbed from her, by Marko — the lead kidnapper — and, in the ensuing conversation between father and kidnapper, Neeson says “If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

That line caught me; by its sheer intensity, if nothing else …

Understandable intensity, I think; if that was our child, I think we’d be the same, wouldn’t we?

Although I don’t know if we’d be able to react in quite the same way, nor effect such a rescue.

So possibly Neeson’s character is something of an Everyman, here, doing what we’d be oing, if we had both the skills and the need to use them.

Granted, though, most of us wouldn’t be capable of this level of violence, however tempting it may well be.

Which actually is an interesting point Adrian raised, in the post match natter; it’s a bit of rough, this. Adrian was a touch concerned at levels of violence that many films show, in this day and age.

Well, not so much violence; a certain amount is usual, in action-thrillers.

It was more the amount of casual killing in many action films today that he found objectionable; along with the fact that many known celebrities seem to be doing a lot of action films.

I’m not sure I’d totally agree, but I can see — and agree with — his basic point; that it would make a nice change to have a central character who shows some sense of remorse, or feeling that he’s taken a life.

And that is a good thing to show, occasionally.

•••••

Cast
Actor	Character
Liam Neeson	Bryan Mills
Maggie Grace	Kim Mills
Famke Janssen	Lenore
Xander Berkeley	Stuart
Katie Cassidy	Amanda
Olivier Rabourdin	Jean-Claude
Holly Valance	Sheerah
Jon Gries	Casey
David Warshofsky	Bernie
Nathan Rippy	Victor
Camille Japy	Isabelle
Nicolas Giraud	Peter
Gérard Watkins	Saint Clair

•••••

Ooh, and just as a though, the title’s taken from “Julius Cæsar”, by William Shakespear; Act 4, Scene 3, sees Brutus saying “There is a flood, which, taken at the tide, leads to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

I do like to show off me learning, occasionally; even if it is just how I’ve learnt to use Google …