‘Taken’: A Neeson-Free Series Lacks That Liam Goodness
The latest movie-to-TV adaptation is an exceptionally useless prequel to the Taken franchise that’s been headed up by Liam Neeson, who was always ready to throw his muscular bulk into any enemy who dared to try and kidnap his daughter or a loved one. The movies have been enjoyable popcorn action flicks; the TV series — premiering Monday on NBC — is a dark, dour enterprise that owes less to the movie Taken than it does to other shows on NBC’s schedule, such as The Blacklist and Blindspot.
Clive Standen (Vikings) stars as 30-something Bryan Mills, handsome with stubble in a hipster way that, I’m sorry, the Neeson’s Bryan Mills simply would never have been. This Mills is a military vet who, in the pilot episode, suffers a family tragedy that propels him into action, punching and kicking and twisting guns out of the hands of bad guys and using those weapons on the villains. By the end of the episode, it’s no spoiler to say that Mills is drawn into working for Jennifer Beals, who plays a director of National Intelligence.
The hour rattles along with some reckless car chases that are filmed much more confusingly than Taken movie producer Luc Besson probably would have allowed. The show tries to drop a few breadcrumbs that allude to the future Mills. For example, when a colleague says to Mills, “My advice? Don’t ever have kids. Especially not a daughter,” you’re supposed to say, “Ohhhh, see, he’s gonna eventually have daughter, and she won’t be safe!”
As I watched the new Taken, my mind wandered to the two people in the world who would be most psyched to see it — and would, I suspect, be most vehemently disappointed. I refer, of course, to Key and Peele’s valets, who admire above all else, their man “Liam Neesons.”
In fact, rather than watch Taken, perhaps you should just devote an hour to assembling your own Key & Peele festival from videos on Comedy Central and elsewhere. They’re a lot more exciting.
Taken airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
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