Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo In "Taken," Liam Neeson stars as Bryan Mills, an ex-government operative who has less than four days to find his kidnapped daughter who has been taken on her first day of vacation in Paris. [Click to enlarge]

In today's world, traveling to a foreign country can be a somewhat dangerous undertaking. Many countries have no tourism industry to speak of as they have been labeled "hot spots" for drug lords, faction warfare and human trafficking. This latter category, a specifically chilling enterprise, is the subject of Pierre Morel's thriller "Taken."

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a divorced and retired government agent. His ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) possesses custody of his teenage daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), though Mills has moved to a home near his daughter in an attempt to make up for lost time.

Thanks to the nature of his former employment, Mills is admittedly "uncomfortable" when his daughter Kim decides to go to Europe with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy). Fearing the worst, Mills nonetheless eventually caves to his daughter's pleas. But upon arrival, the girls are approached by a seemingly nice young man by the name of Peter. When Peter offers to pick them up later to take them to a party, the girls foolishly divulge their residential information.

Later, while on the phone with her father, Kim watches in terror from an opposite window as men invade the apartment and haul Amanda away kicking and screaming. Hiding under the bed in the next room, Mills attempts to reassure his daughter that all will be well. Having listened to the sounds of his daughter being viciously abducted, Mills hardens as he hears one of the assailants pick up Kim's phone. Calmly but forcefully, Mills explains that he has "a very particular set of skills…skills that make me a nightmare for people like you." He vows to use these skills to hunt down and kill his daughter's attackers if they do not release her. By replying only with "Good luck," the villain issues a challenge to Mills; a challenge that he will answer with force and fury.

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