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Trust Weighted
Very Good
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98Trust Points
Wick's Review
Summary - Very Good 3.5
This surprisingly effective revenge thriller plays better than its formulaic trailer might suggest. The mix of A-List star, well written script and competent direction injects plenty of life into an implausible set-up and the resulting cat-and-mouse games.
Acting - Very Good 3.5
Liam Neeson carries the movie, so much so that no other cast member is worth noting. Sure, he’s slumming a bit here, but it’s a reasonable rule that when an A-List star appears in a schlocky movie, the movie is probably worth seeing.
Male Stars - Great 4.0
Female Stars - Good 3.0
Female Costars - Very Good 3.5
Male Costars - Very Good 3.5
Film - Very Good 3.5
The ridiculous set-up is more than redeemed by a cornucopia of pleasingly hard boiled dialog, plus a couple of tortuous interrogation scenes that would surprise even Jack Bauer. As revenge fantasies go, this is high praise.
Direction - Very Good 3.5
Dialogue - Great 4.0
Music - Good 3.0
Visuals - Great 4.0
Edge - Risqué 2.4
Violent as hell.
Sex Titillating 2.0
Violence Brutal 2.6
Rudeness Profane 2.6
Reality - Glib 1.3
The movie asks us to accept that white slavery runs rife in modern day Paris. Sure, poor girls from poor countries are taken advantage of in this way, representing a serious stain on modern day civilization. But rich girls from LA? Bullshit.
And when two rich American girls get plucked out of a luxury Parisian apartment, one of their fathers happens to be ex-CIA. How convennnnient……………
Finally, in this age of overprotective parents, who lets their teenage daughters go halfway around the world unchaperoned?
Circumstantial - Glib 2.0
Biological - Glib 1.3
Physical - Natural 1.0
3 Comments
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BrianSez Mar 1, 2013 6:55PM
Regarding BrianSez’s Review
So I’ve been told… T2 won’t be on my to-view list any time soon -
jasonhurwitz Feb 27, 2013 9:58PM
Regarding BrianSez’s Review
Taken = good. Taken 2 = blech. -
Wick Jan 9, 2009 8:27AM
Excellent review Tom. I hadn’t heard anything about this movie till seeing a run of trailers for it on TV the past few days. The trailer left me scratching my head since they made it look like Neeson anticipated his daughter’s abduction as payback for something he’d done. Apparently not, which makes the plot setup seem overly contrived. In any case, your review is very helpful in understanding this as a fairly run-of-the-mill action pic.