When I think of Liam Neeson, I usually think of the gentle voice of Aslan, or criminal mastermind Ra's Al Ghul, or the tragic widower in Love Actually. I could name fantastic roles of his for hours, stretching everywhere from the Star Wars prequels through to the Oscar-winning Schindler's List. This is an actor who gets around in every aspect of the industry, and every genre as well. So when I tell you that he's barely recognizable in Taken, I mean it. He looks the exact same; same graying hair and soft eyes, same calm power and control, but he's something more. He's the guy you never want to cross, the man who will torture and kill whoever he needs to, and man is watching it both painful and riveting. Action looks good on you, Mr. Neeson.

Bryan Mills (Neeson) is a retired CIA "Preventer" who moved to the USA to be closer to his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). For most of her life he has been off saving the world from the dark underground, but he always makes it back for her birthday, and now intends to take the time to get to know her. His ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) is happily married to wealthy Stuart (Xander Berkeley), but Stuart will never be the father he is. Why? Because Stuart would not spend 96 hours frantically killing everything in his path to save Kim from prostitution and drug addiction, that's why! On a trip to Europe with her friend, Kim gets kidnapped by an Albanian group that he finds out intend to sell girls to wealthy buyers as sex slaves. As you can imagine, Bryan is not happy.

This is only thirty minutes in, and the next hour is spent with nail-biting tension as Bryan tears apart Paris in his search for Kim. There is nothing more important to him, even keeping a positive relationship with former friend Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin). While Bryan uncovers a dark part of Paris and its dealings with the criminal Albanians, it's not really about stopping evil. He is a single minded man and doesn't give a crap about anything else other than his little girl. It's admirable, and more than a little frightening … if you're in his way, that is!

Neeson plays this role with a high level of cold viciousness and parental desperation, and even if his daughter wasn't a genuinely sweet and innocent girl, you'd care about her fate on his behalf. There aren't many underlining themes or universal truth to find in this movie. It is a slamdunk thriller with great action and a strong leading man. It could go into human trafficking and kidnapping more, but that's not the purpose of the film. You have to just accept that and enjoy it for what it is. What you will take away from it is 'OMG Neeson killed 30 people like it was nothing!' and that's all it needs. It was bleak, brisk, well directed and made, and overall an entertaining experience for fans of dark action.

This is Jack Bauer on the big screen, but if possible, Bryan Mills is more menacing, more serious, and more willing to shoot his friend's wife in the head if it gets his goal. The movie is short, sweet, and believably awesome.

There are two versions of Taken out now: a single-disc and a two-disc. The two-disc just has a digital copy of the movie, as expected nowadays. The Extended Edition of this movie is what you want to get, because it includes the extended cut of the movie with audio commentary, a making of featurette, and a focus on several difference scenes inside the filming. For fans of the movie the commentary itself will be the best part, but the action sequences are pretty great too. I'd definitely suggest this movie for action fans and anyone who doesn't believe Neeson could be an action-hero.

Taken is out on DVD and Blu-ray now.

ComicsOnline gives Taken gets 4.5 out of 5 Knife Stabs!