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TAKENMovie Reviews
Action thriller about an ex-soldier traveling through Europe who embarks on a frantic quest to rescue his daughter after the young girl is abducted by slave traders. Cast:Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon GriesDirector:Pierre MorelRelease Date:January 30, 2009DVD Release:May 12, 2009From:20th Century FoxRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 33 min
Taken played to fair reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Robert W. Butler wrote in the Orange County Register, "...a crude but fairly effective thriller. Film spends a half-hour on character and the next 60 minutes on breathless movement." • And Calvin Wilson wrote in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "If you're interested in watching bad guys get their heads busted, this film delivers with enthusiasm." More Reviews Below...
Taken Positive Reviews (38 Reviews, reviews below)
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a propulsively outlandish thriller... Neeson -- a hulk with jackknife limbs -- makes Jason Bourne look like a man of tired reflexes."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 99 words, 01/30/09
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It's a whole lot of nonsense and bluster that will, of course, end well... Mindless? Sure. But at least it's mindlessly entertaining -- and, blissfully, brief."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 617 words, 01/29/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "What might be a guilty pleasure for adult fans of revenge thrillers could be deeply disturbing to an adolescent.... it might make a kid never want to travel abroad."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 389 words, 01/30/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (12 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: FAIR "...digitally dreary-looking movie gleefully trades on the specter of American vigilante justice.... the story perks up once it moves to the more dangerous environs of Paris..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 01/30/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It's always a puzzle to review a movie like this. On the one hand, it's preposterous.... On the other hand, it's very well-made."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 782 words, 01/29/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times.... benefits as much as it can from having Liam Neeson in the starring role."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 01/30/09
Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR(cg) "...so lacking in ambition they should have called it 'Paycheck'... producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel are as convincing as Marcel Marceau doing John Wayne."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 561 words, 01/30/09
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...there's a Charles Bronson simplicity about the whole affair. Which, in the hands of director Pierre Morel, of the equally speedy 'District B13,' is the whole point..."(See all of Christopher Borrelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 643 words, 01/30/09
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: EXCELLENT "...it's the big, dolorous Neeson who makes the movie a keeper. He does not gloat, he does not preen.... His motivation is clear: He wants his daughter back."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 371 words, 02/02/09
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...stops being a rousing chase movie when it slows down to smash cars and villains.... Bryan is not so much trying to save Kim, but punish the world..."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 522 words, 01/30/09
Barrett Hooper, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Imagine 80s action classic 'Commando' field-stripped of its cartoonish violence in favour of a more Bourne-like identity.... a taut, tense pistol-whip of a thriller."(See all of Barrett Hooper's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 155 words, 01/29/09
KEY CITIES (15 Reviews)
Dan Kois, Washington Post: EXCELLENT(cg) "A satisfying little thriller... pairs the ruthless hand-to-hand combat of the 'Bourne' series with the potent child-in-peril plotline of a Lifetime original movie."(See all of Dan Kois's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 01/30/09
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...movie junk food - fun while it lasts, but not much more. Nothing wrong with that kind of snack every now and then. You just won't want a steady diet of it."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 570 words, 01/30/09
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "The placement of an archetypal American character, the avenging action hero, wreaking havoc through the Paris streets has some dark appeal..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 712 words, 01/30/09
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "A fleet, no-nonsense rescue thriller... It's not every movie where the cop-in-charge carries a gun in one hand and a baguette in the other. Vive la France."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 602 words, 01/30/09
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: POOR(cg) "...an indecent, cynical fantasy... if I'm going to watch anybody track down and demolish her violators, I'd rather have a terminator with a little spunk."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 697 words, 01/30/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "Made with a slick proficiency that could be mistaken for style... brain-rattling chases, brawls, torture and gun battles alongside images of sexually enslaved women..."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 419 words, 01/30/09
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: WEAK(cg) "...a few chase scenes are undeniably exciting, but mostly it's a grim, violent and predictable tale of a young girl in unthinkable distress."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 421 words, 01/30/09
Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: EXCELLENT(cg) "...you may feel as if you've seen it already. Well, you have.... But as violence-strewn, guns-and-gadgets, stoic-angry-guy, revenge movies go, 'Taken' is pretty good."(See all of Clint O'Connor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 376 words, 01/30/09
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: GOOD(cg) "You get to spend 90 minutes watching a world-class leading man cut a totally justified swath of violence through an army of central-casting scumbags."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 163 words, 01/30/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: EXCELLENT(cg) "...what a rush! Besson didn't re-invent the action film. Still, as 'Taken' re-iterates, Besson's espresso-jag thrillers are all the caffeine an action fan needs..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 490 words, 01/29/09
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE(cg) "...this guilty pleasure, directed at whiplash speed by Pierre Morel, will go down much easier on DVD with a few beers and a slice of pizza with extra cheese."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 132 words, 02/06/09
Barrett Hooper, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Imagine 80s action classic 'Commando' field-stripped of its cartoonish violence in favour of a more Bourne-like identity.... a taut, tense pistol-whip of a thriller."(See all of Barrett Hooper's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 155 words, 01/29/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: FAIR "...digitally dreary-looking movie gleefully trades on the specter of American vigilante justice.... the story perks up once it moves to the more dangerous environs of Paris..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 01/30/09
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: WEAK "Do stars degrade themselves when they take a role in trash, or does their very presence redeem the folly, turning up something that glitters amid the dross?"(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 685 words, 01/26/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times.... benefits as much as it can from having Liam Neeson in the starring role."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 01/30/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Derek Elley, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a dumb, pedal-to-the-metal actioner... Neeson growls his way through the functional dialogue as an unstoppable killing machine in impressive, cold-eyed style."(See all of Derek Elley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 479 words, 03/17/08
Bernard Besserglik, Hollywood Reporter: MODERATE "Pierre Morel moves the action along briskly, serving a screenplay (co-authored by Robert Mark Kamen) that rarely rises above the strictly functional."(See all of Bernard Besserglik's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 560 words, 02/27/08
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times.... benefits as much as it can from having Liam Neeson in the starring role."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 01/30/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: FAIR "...digitally dreary-looking movie gleefully trades on the specter of American vigilante justice.... the story perks up once it moves to the more dangerous environs of Paris..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 01/30/09
20.9 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Taken's reviews are separated by an average 20.9 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Coverage:Taken's reviews cover 72.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 17,554 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 462 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Taken Coverage, Volume & Length (38 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 4.2 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Taken's reviews on average broke 4.2 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Taken's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
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