Taken
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: January 30, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
11
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
PremierePatrick Parker
The beginning is a little slow, but after Neeson starts his hunt and does his best wrath-of-God impression, it doesn’t skip a beat. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Taken moves so fast and with such single-minded, vindictive energy, there's no time for moral ambivalence. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneChristopher Borrelli
There is no mythology, no irony, no real soul--just a Charles Bronson simplicity about the whole affair. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
There's a xenophobic element to Taken's premise, to be sure - the idea that travel, even to Western Europe, isn't safe for Americans, and that foreigners (Albanians, Arabs) are by nature shifty and sinister. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Taken is nonsense, but it's terrifically entertaining nonsense. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
I won't tell you Taken is great, but it's great fun. Read full review
70
Washington PostDan Kois
A satisfying thriller as grimly professional as its efficient hero. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The delirious and sometimes nasty little pleasures that Taken offers don't hinge as much on surprise as they do on the action (which is crisp and fast, with a minimum of computer enhancement) and on the story's unabashedly sentimental underpinnings. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Taken--in the hands of director Pierre Morel (District B13), with Neeson in nearly every shot--works like gangbusters. The Frenchies have made the filet mignon of meathead vigilante movies. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerTravis Nichols
Accomplished if misguided thriller. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
If you find the film's xenophobic undercurrents distasteful, take solace in this: Taken was co-written and directed by the Frenchmen responsible for "District B13," so at least the xenophobia is imported. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
If there are any "24" fans who have wondered what the TV series might be like if Liam Neeson replaced Kiefer Sutherland, Taken provides an opportunity to have that question answered. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Taken shows Mills as a one-man rescue squad, a master of every skill, a laser-eyed, sharpshooting, pursuit-driving, pocket-picking, impersonating, knife-fighting, torturing, karate-fighting killing machine who can cleverly turn over a petrol tank with one pass in his car and strategically ignite it with another. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Taken does have a few things going for it. At the top of that short list is Liam Neeson in the starring role. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineJeremy Wheeler
Not one to overstay its welcome, this suspenseful tale is an economic exercise in delivering the goods for those who are interested in a two-fisted Liam Neeson vehicle to soak up, bask in, and then leave behind as soon as it's over. Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
Neeson growls his way through the functional dialogue as an unstoppable killing machine in impressive, cold-eyed style. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A brisk and violent action programmer that can't help being unintentionally silly at times. Read full review
60
Film ThreatScott Mendelson
In the post-Columbine age, far too many cops' partners have gone un-murdered. And too many unsuspecting daughters have freely traveled abroad, unmolested by foreign fiends. Leave it to the French to give Americans what we didn't realize we were missing. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Propulsively outandish thriller. Read full review
50
ConsequenceClint Worthington
However handsomely and efficiently staged, the actual action in this action movie feels immaterial. It’s a foregone conclusion that Mills is going to get his daughter back, no matter what obstacles are thrown in his way. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterBernard Besserglik
Might do good business at home and abroad among audiences unconcerned with the finer points of characterization or psychological insight. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyTim Grierson
Neeson's tormented weariness lends an air of dignity to the film's pulpy, grubby nastiness, but as striking as he is in action-hero mode, the truth is that Taken doesn't need dignity. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Taken's subject matter is too serious for an escapist chop-socky movie, and the sleazy, exploitative tone undercuts the thrills. Read full review
40
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
You do wonder how this commanding actor (Neeson)--who carries so much more conviction than the plot--felt about delivering the line "I'll tear down the Eiffel Tower if I have to." Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Neeson's better than this. You can't watch him here without thinking, Geez, every fight-choreography session could have funded "Love, Actually." This bash-the-door-down action scene likely took as long to film as "Kinsey." That gunfight required more stunts than all of "Schindler's List." Read full review
40
TimeRichard Corliss
The film promises so much more than it delivers that, by the end, I felt like registering a complaint with the Obama Administration's Consumer Protection squad. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
This film isn't an enjoyable martial-arts extravaganza like "District B-13" or the "Transporter" films. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Taken starts in low gear and almost immediately stalls out. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Cowriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (Gladiator) saddle Neeson with indigestible dialogue and preposterous situations. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Taken? You bet. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorStaff (Not credited)
Don't be taken in by Taken. Read full review
12
New York PostKyle Smith
A Liam Neeson thriller so lacking in ambition they should have called it "Paycheck." Read full review
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