Taken (2008)

At age 56, veteran acting heavyweight Liam Neeson convincingly transforms into a modern-day action hero in writer-producer Luc Besson’s fast-moving action thriller, TAKEN. When his 17-year-old daughter is kidnapped in Paris by human traffickers, retired intelligence field operative Bryan Mills (Neeson) must use all of his specialized training in an effort to track her down while exacting revenge on the perpetrators. With a lean and tightly-paced screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen (THE TRANSPORTER), stylish direction by Frenchman Pierre Morel (DISTRICT B13) and no-nonsense screen fighting by Wing Chun and Pencat Silat-trained choreographer Olivier Schneider, TAKEN delivers 90 minutes of highly satisfying gunplay, automotive and fighting mayhem akin to THE BOURNE IDENTITY and RONIN.

TAKEN has been a huge commercial success in the U.S. since its theatrical release in February and now on home video. With over $140 million in U.S. box office earnings alone, it easily ranks as the most successful film ever for Europa Corp. and producer Luc Besson. It certainly lives up to its reputation as a crowd-pleasing, mainstream actioner with broad appeal. It’s a simple film that delivers exactly what it promises to, a father who uses his spy training in a relentless and ruthless pursuit of the men who have kidnapped his daughter. It taps into the topical issue of human trafficking, every responsible parents’ worst nightmare and the satisfaction that comes from making evil men pay for one of the most horrendous crimes committed today. It’s the rare kind of smart action movie that guys can watch with their girlfriends, wives and mothers, one that just about any adult can find some satisfaction in watching. A lot of that has to do with Neeson’s credible acting and action performance. He’s a measure of Harrison Ford, Terrence Stamp, Clint Eastwood, and Jet Li rolled into one.

Neeson channels the physicality he brought to sword-fighting roles in ROY ROY, THE PHANTOM MENACE, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, and BATMAN BEGINS into one the most physically-demanding roles of his career. The actor would not have had it any other way. Neeson was first shown the script by producer Luc Besson when they met at a film festival. Reportedly, Neeson would only agree to do the film so long as he could do all of his own fighting, something the actor is no stranger to. He was an avid boxer in his native Ireland as a teenager.

Throughout the film Neeson’s character employs a very brutal and direct style of hand-to-hand combat that involves strikes to vital points, controlled takedowns and above all, efficiency and adaptability to a given situation. This includes disarming opponents and using their own weapons against them, staying close to keep multiple opponents from gaining ranged advantage and killing or disabling opponents as quickly as possible. It’s exactly the kind of fighting style that a character trained in a realistic and practical self defense art should be displaying in a serious-minded action film. Morel takes some liberties, particularly in the use of breakaway glass and John Woo-style bullet ballet action but the fighting action consistently looks rugged and intense, as one might imagine such encounters in real life to be. Tight editing is pervasive throughout these fighting scenes, as well as during several car chases in what appears to be a similar take on the action in the BOURNE films, although thankfully Morel steers clear of the excessive handheld camera work of those films.

The film’s fighting action was choreographed by Olivier Schneider, a veteran stuntman and choreographer with notable credits dating back to 2001 with martial arts-infused French productions KISS OF THE DRAGON and BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF. He has worked on some top-level video games as well such as HEAVENLY SWORD, GHOST RECON 2 and INDIGO PROPHECY.

It’s visibly apparent that Schneider draws on his martial background in Chinese Wing Chun and the Indonesian art of Pencat Silat for the film’s brutal fight scenes. Both arts specialize in direct, close-range attacks designed specifically for effective and potentially lethal application in a real-world situation, unlike a lot of the more flowery or competitive martial arts action typically seen in film including wushu and taekwondo.

Luc Besson’s willingness to highlight this fighting style in the proper context despite his equal interest in more stylized fighting found in the likes of DISTRICT B13, THE TRANSPORTER and ONG BAK shows that he has the right instincts for producing films with in-demand action. Both Wing Chun and Pencat Silat are gaining momentum as screen fighting styles with the Wing Chun film IP MAN and upcoming silat film MERANTAU.

In its stripped down, more mature presentation, TAKEN is a welcome contrast to Besson’s over-the-top TRANSPORTER series. It shares some of the same visceral thrill but without trying so hard to look “cool.” Without a doubt it provides Neeson with his best action lead role since ROB ROY. It’s just unfortunate that the Irish actor is only now headlining a quality, modern-day actioner after squandering his younger years in the likes of NEXT OF KIN and DARKMAN. With a second CRANK movie out, Jason Statham has clearly chosen the low road and there are not enough substantial actors in the West like Neeson who can not only carry a film like TAKEN but make it far better than it ever could have been without him. As for Besson, TAKEN brings us back to his heady days of directing LEON, aka THE PROFESSIONAL. As much as I am looking forward to enjoying more mind-numbing action from BANLIEUE 13: ULTIMATUM, I’m even more excited about what direction the success of TAKEN may encourage Besson and company to pursue. One likely possibility is a new action franchise for Neeson. Word is out that a sequel is already in the works.

Related Topics: Liam Neeson, Luc Besson, silat, Taken (2008), Wing Chun