Goshen News, Goshen, IN

Breaking News

Movie Reviews

February 13, 2009

'Taken' is mindlessly entertaining

LOS ANGELES — A great deal of the allure in “Taken” comes from the wild juxtaposition of its premise: the idea of Liam Neeson — esteemed, acclaimed, 56-year-old Liam Neeson — kicking all kinds of butt in a Euro B-revenge thriller.

Yes, Pierre Morel’s film moves with breathlessly incessant fluidity and speed; that’s a given from the director of the French action flick “District B13,” working from a script co-written by Luc Besson, for whom this sort of trashy adventure is his baguette and butter. But cast someone you’ve never heard of in the lead role — someone who didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for playing Oskar Schindler, for example — and it might not have worked nearly so well.

Neeson seems to be having a blast, too, unleashing chaos as former CIA operative Bryan Mills. Bryan’s been trying to live a quiet life in Los Angeles, where he’s moved to be closer to his 17-year-old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), whom he neglected for years while he was out tracking baddies around the globe. (Grace, the former “Lost” star, seems lost herself at 25 playing a teenager; she does it with the weirdly innocent goofiness of a girl half that age.)

Kim and her mom, Bryan’s ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), talk Bryan into allowing her to travel to Paris with a girlfriend. He’s reluctant — he knows what dangers lurk in those seemingly glamorous streets! — but he eventually gives in, only to discover that she and her pal are actually planning to travel all over Europe following the U2 tour. (Somehow, that doesn’t seem like the kind of band a couple of high school girls would go ga-ga about chasing, but whatever.)

But when Kim and her girlfriend get kidnapped, Bryan must dash over there to prevent a group of Albanian goons from selling her into sex slavery. It’s all sordid and unseemly but if you can get past that, “Taken” is also unexpectedly fun in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. Bryan is inordinately violent for a guy his age — he can take down anyone, anywhere, regardless of their weaponry — but he’s also got a MacGyver-like resourcefulness.

For example, because he happened to be on the phone with Kim when she was abducted, he’s able to piece together not only where she was but the ethnicity of the people who took her. His use of a walkie-talkie and a cell phone in an elaborate rooftop bait-and-switch is also amusing. But mainly he has sheer brute force on his side — along with some cheesy, menacing dialogue.

“Jean-Claude, I will tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to!” he growls to a former colleague. (Robert Mark Kamen, who collaborated with Besson on the “Transporter” movies, co-wrote the script here, as well. He’s also responsible for the indelible words, “Wax on, wax off,” having written the first three “Karate Kid” movies.)

It’s a whole lot of nonsense and bluster that will, of course, end well — but not before a Saudi sheik’s yacht is shot to bits and an untold number of bloodied bodies lay strewn all over the City of Lights. Mindless? Sure. But at least it’s mindlessly entertaining — and, blissfully, brief.

Text Only
Movie Reviews
  • ‘Goats’ has fuzzy vision A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” and it all starts with the disclaimer that opens the movie: “More of this is true than what you might imagine.”

    November 11, 2009

  • images_sizedimage_289100122 Supernatural success LOS ANGELES — The critics have spoken. Here’s what more than a few have to say:

    “Scariest movie of the decade.”

    October 16, 2009 1 Photo 1 Link

  • ‘Getaway’ imperfect but fun “A Perfect Getaway” is essentially one big red herring, flopping around on an idyllic Hawaiian beach, desperately trying to call attention to itself.

    August 7, 2009

  • images_sizedimage_217100540 ‘G.I. Joe’ show no go LOS ANGELES — It’s the biggest movie of the summer that practically no one has seen.

    August 5, 2009 1 Photo

  • ‘Transformers’ noisy, nonsensical A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” director Michael Bay’s follow-up to the 2007 smash “Transformers” plays more like a parody of a Bay movie.

    June 26, 2009

  • images_sizedimage_171150006 ‘Proposal’ says yes to cliches All the romantic comedy conventions are shamelessly on parade in “The Proposal,” trampling on our brains and turning them into mush.

    June 20, 2009 1 Photo

  • ‘Imagine That’ a solid comedy The words “Eddie Murphy family comedy” are enough to send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting film lover.

    June 12, 2009

  • images_sizedimage_162104417 ‘Pelham’ an overcaffeinated thriller The way the original 1974 film’s title has been condensed tells you everything you need to know about the direction “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” is headed. In these fast-paced, mixed-up times, it simply takes too long to spell out the numbers.

    June 11, 2009 1 Photo

  • This movie in ‘Ruins’ LOS ANGELES — As we learn from “My Life in Ruins,” the Greek word for mojo — or zest for life — is “kefi.” Nia Vardalos’ character has lost hers and needs to get it back.

    June 10, 2009

  • This movie is not a ‘Drag’ The name alone, “Drag Me to Hell,” tells you exactly what this is: an unabashed celebration of B-movie schlockery. But the dichotomies director Sam Raimi presents within that familiar genre are what make this such a kick.

    May 29, 2009

Parade
Magazine

Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
AP Video
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48 Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Poll

The Goshen Housing Authority has a $571,050 shortfall. Should the Goshen City Council use money from its $4.7-million “rainy day” fund to pay the debt and maintain the current level of service provided by the voucher program?

Yes, the Council should allocate all the money owed
No, the Council should not allocate any money
The Council should pay what cannot be raised privately
     View Results