A Look at Taken

The other day I was at Blockbuster and was in the mood to rent a movie that I had not seen (what a shock) and one that everyone else in America had. I was happy that Taken was on the shelves and rented it. I was not expecting much as far as acting, action, special effects, etc. What I got was a ninety minute heart-pounding thriller, a send off to early 24 episodes with a little bit of Jason Bourne sprinkled in.

Without going into plot details ,Liam Neesen plays an ex-CIA agent whose daughter is abducted by Albanian sex merchants. I have never been a huge Neesen fan, don't get me wrong Schindler's was great but The Phantom Menace definitely was far from it. However in this movie Neesen owns the screen from start to finish.

Most importantly the movie is only ninety minutes. Before I put the DVD in the player I checked the running time just to see what I was in for. But ninety-minutes! Really the perfect running time for a movie with potential and extra ten minutes would have ruined it. I don't recall the last time I saw a ninety minute movie. I personally feel like every movie executive believes that every movies needs to be twenty minutes longer than its ideal length. This belief ruins movies that have potential. I was thrilled that Taken took the road less travelled.

If you haven't seen this gem, rent it!