Taken

Taken
Directed by	Pierre Morel
Produced by	Luc Besson
Written by	Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen
Starring	Liam Neeson Maggie Grace Leland Orser Jon Gries David Warshofsky Katie Cassidy Holly Valance Famke Janssen
Music by	Nathaniel Méchaly
Cinematography	Michel Abramowicz
Editing by	Frédéric Thoraval
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (US) EuropaCorp (France)
Release	27 February 2008 (France) 30 January 2009 (USA)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Gross revenue	$226.8 million
Followed by	Taken 2

Taken is a 2008 English-language French action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel, written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Holly Valance, Katie Cassidy, Xander Berkeley, Olivier Rabourdin, Gérard Watkins, and Famke Janssen.

Neeson plays a former CIA operative named Bryan Mills who sets about tracking down his daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers for sexual slavery while traveling in France. The film grossed more than $226 million. Numerous media outlets have cited the film as a turning point in Neeson's career that redefined and transformed him to an action film star. A sequel, Taken 2, was released on 5 October 2012, and a third and final film, Taken 3, was released on 9 January 2015. Despite being box office hits, both sequels were met with negative reception from critics.

Plot

Retired CIA field operative Bryan Mills attempts to build a closer relationship with his daughter, Kim, who lives with her mother, Lenore, and her wealthy stepfather, Stuart. While overseeing security at a concert for pop star Sheerah, Bryan saves her from a violent stalker. As a thank you, Sheerah offers to assess Kim's talent as a singer. Before Bryan can tell Kim, she asks her father for permission to travel to Paris with her best friend, Amanda. He initially refuses, but eventually agrees after Lenore pressures him. At the airport, he learns the girls are actually following U2 during their European tour, something Lenore knew but kept from him.

Upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Kim and Amanda share a taxi into town with a boy named Peter, who uses this as an opportunity to discover and pass on their details and location. Kim and Amanda go to Amanda's cousins' apartment, only for Kim to find that Amanda's cousins are in Spain. While Kim makes a call to her father, she witnesses Amanda being abducted by strange men in the living room. Kim complies with her father's instructions to hide in a bedroom, but Bryan, knowing she will be found, informs her of it and talks her through the situation. After she is dragged out from underneath the bed, Kim yells the description of her abductor until she is silenced. Her abductor picks up the phone and refuses to negotiate with Bryan, who responds with a threat. The only response is "Good luck", after which the call ends.

Sam, an old friend of Bryan and former colleague, deduces from the killer's voice that he is Marko Hoxha, a notorious member and leader of illegal Albanian sex trafficking operations. Informing Lenore about their operations, he warns Bryan that Kim will disappear for good if not found within 96 hours. Using Stuart's private jet, Bryan travels to Paris and investigates the apartment, and later discovers pictures of Peter using Kim's phone. He finds Peter at the airport and tries to capture him, but during the chase Peter is hit and killed by a truck.

With his only lead now dead, Bryan turns to an old contact, semi-retired French intelligence officer Jean-Claude Pitrel, who now works a desk job at the same agency. Jean-Claude informs him of the local red-light district where the Albanian prostitution ring operates, but warns him not to get involved. However, with help from a hired Albanian translator, Bryan trails and infiltrates a makeshift brothel in an abandoned construction yard, where he finds a girl wearing Kim's denim jacket. After a brief firefight with the mobsters, he takes the girl to a nearby hotel owned by an old friend. Once there, he administers medication to the girl to detoxify her system.

The following morning, Bryan questions the girl and learns of a safehouse where the Albanians keep abducted girls. Posing as Pitrel, he enters the house pretending to be interested in both a purchase and re-negotiation. After a brief conversation with some of the mobsters under the guise of a re-negotiation of their business, he recognizes Marko from Kim's description. After confirming his identity (making him utter the words "Good luck"), he attacks them. A violent fight ensues wherein Bryan subdues Marko and kills all the gangsters. A quick search reveals several dead girls, including a heavily-drugged Amanda. Using a makeshift electric chair in the basement, Bryan tortures Marko for information. Marko explains that virgins have high value in the black market and Kim, being a virgin, sold quickly. Once Marko gives the buyer's name as Patrice Saint-Clair, Bryan leaves him to die from electrocution. Later that evening, Bryan visits the Pitrels for dinner and, discovering Jean-Claude's corruption, wounds his wife and forces him to give him Saint-Clair's location.

Bryan attends the auction beneath Saint-Clair's manor. As soon as Kim comes up for sale, he forces an Arab bidder to purchase her. While making his way out, he is detained by security and chained to a pipe, but he manages to escape and eliminate everyone detaining him, including Saint-Clair. Saint-Clair informs Bryan of a yacht owned by a sheikh named Raman before he is shot dead. Making his way to the harbor, Bryan boards Raman's yacht and takes out his guards and the bidder, only to find the sheikh holding Kim at knife-point. Bryan kills him without hesitation and rescues Kim. They return to the U.S., where she is reunited with her mother and stepfather. Afterwards, Bryan takes Kim to see Sheerah for her first singing lesson and audition.

Cast

• Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills
• Maggie Grace as Kim Mills
• Famke Janssen as Lenore "Lennie" Mills-St. John
• Leland Orser as Sam Gilroy
• Jon Gries as Mark Casey
• David Warshofsky as Bernie Harris
• Holly Valance as Sheerah
• Katie Cassidy as Amanda
• Xander Berkeley as Stuart St. John
• Olivier Rabourdin as Jean-Claude Pitrel
• Gérard Watkins as Patrice Saint-Clair
• Arben Bajraktaraj as Marko Hoxha
• Camille Japy as Isabelle
• Nicolas Giraud as Peter
• Goran Kostić as Gregor
• Nabil Massad as Raman

External links

• Taken at the Internet Movie Database

Famke Janssen films

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