Taken: The Franchise that came into being

A franchise like this is unique in a way that such things don't come around that often. Having been ignited by the first film in which Liam Neeson, a guy not known for action, hits the action button and goes through guys left and right to get his daughter back. Not only did this movie have a kick ass Liam Neeson and a thrill a minute storyline, but it had one of the best lines ever, one uttered by Liam at the start of the film.

"I Don't know who you are, or what you want, but if you don't let my daughter go, I will find you and I will kill You!"

Thus the film followed Liam as he went across Europe killing bad guys in his wake and causing all kinds of destruction. The movie has become a cult smash hit, even getting a rendition on Family Guy.

With the film's success, it led producers to hit the sequel button!

Four years later, Taken 2 came to theatres. The premise of the first film is used again, but this time its Liam and his wife who are taken and his daughter must save them. Neat twist, but producers felt Liam still needed to be the one doing all the saving so he guides his daughter through the first bit and eventually gets his daughter to safety and handles the rest himself. 

The plot, while not as original as the first, is a basic revenge tale brought about by the fathers whose sons he murdered in the first film. Another franchise, The Hangover, had issues of its own when doing a sequel. It lost the humour and feel of the original that made the first film such a hit. The action here is not dull but somewhat the same. 

Characters are slowly developed, Kim gets a boyfriend in this, one of many, and the two are a lot nicer to Liam, as the first film they were both a bit cold hearted. 

Three Years later, a third, and possibly final film, is added to the canon. The producers again did what Hangover did and completely changed what the franchise had been known for. While for Hangover it was a bad move as the franchise ended on a sour/cold note with no hangover, for Liam and the gang it was the perfect change. 

Acting as a soft remake of the classic film, The Fugitive staring Harrison Ford, the film follows Liam as he is framed for the murder of his wife, played once again by Famke Janssen. Two new players join the game, Dougary Scott as the step father Stuart (not seen since the first film played by Nikita's Xander Berkley) and Forest Whitaker (the chief police officer similar to the role that Tommy Lee played). 

Its not a remake but is a nice change of pace for the series. I enjoyed the movie, it had some minor issues (one particular action scene that seemed a little too far fetched and unnecessary) but Liam and Maggie play their roles that just hit all the right buttons, Maggie even more so as her character finally grows. She also has a hot boyfriend named Jimmy (played by hot surfer boy Jonny Weston) who is a 100% trust worthy, in Liam's eyes. 

The third chapter had its issues in the start but once it started to hit on the home run it got really epic, like final chapter epic. The twists were surprising and the final chase was full of emotion and one of the best action set pieces in the franchise. 

As I said at the start, this was a franchise held together by a british actor (who one would never have believed could make it as an action star) and he in the end got some help with the heavy lifting, namely Forest and Maggie as these two I felt really brought home a performance. I have been a big fan of this franchise but I do feel its time for Liam to retire this franchise and maybe give the action stuff a rest for a while (since Taken he's been in The Grey, Non-stop, Unknown, A Walk Among the Tombstones and is set for another action flick this spring, Run All Night) \

Overall Franchise Rating - B