There's nothing about the action that will surprise you in Taken, a thriller about a man who has to rescue his daughter from villains.
The film is an adrenalin rush with an unusually high body count (Albanians and Arabs) -- but we've all seen that before.
What's new here is the killing machine -- it's genial Liam Neeson, the actor voted most likely to be seen in a priest's collar.
Neeson stars as a retired agent named Bryan Mills, a guy who has quit the world of espionage to be closer to his teenaged daughter, Kim. He and Kim (Maggie Grace) have almost no relationship, but he's hoping to change that.
Bryan is introduced as a bit of a no-hoper, a man who has left his job and moved house to be near his daughter and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen). The ex is remarried to a rich guy, and Bryan sort of mopes around on the outskirts of their lives.
Kim is 17, so when she decides to go to Europe with a girlfriend, Bryan isn't too happy about it. But he agrees to let her go, and about five minutes after landing in Paris, she gets kidnapped by a ring of sex-trade villains.
Dad has to come out of retirement and spring back into action. And spring he does. Neeson's character arrives in Paris and quietly begins slaughtering most of the immigrant populace.
Once he gets his mojo back, beating the crap out of one guy and chasing another to his death, our agent can't be stopped. He's going to rescue his daughter if he has to kill every Albanian immigrant in all of France.
And perhaps he will.
Predictable, improbable and bound to attract accusations of racism -- wait 'till you meet the despicable Arab characters -- Taken is nonetheless impossible to stop watching.
The film has a breathtaking pace and non-stop action (and violence), and a carefully created air of paranoia and claustrophobia.
There are the requisite car chases and the usual over-the-top, frantic events, but the truly spectacular action here is in the hand-to-hand combat.
Further to things with a built-in scary factor, we remind you that the film is set in Paris, and it's co-written by Luc Besson.
On the performance front, Maggie Grace's character is written to be so spoiled and annoying that it's tough to care about her fate. That's a bit of a problem.
The villains are suitably villainous, but the general performance level is arboreal, except for Neeson. He's cool, calm and collected in his role of avenging angel.
You'll believe him as an action hero; too bad the filmmakers weren't so sure.
Did they think he was too old for the role? That's the only reason we can think of for them making Neeson dye his hair all those various shiny shades of fake brown.
What the heck is that all about? Besides an invitation to be out of the movie?
(This film is rated 14-A)
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