TAKEN

Jack Bauer is a wuss. 007 is a dandy.

For merciless, nonstop pursuit of bad guys, Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills is far tougher, rougher, stronger, more efficient and more focused than any of these predecessors.

Taken (directed by Pierre Morel, written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen) is a non-stop, well crafted, old-fashioned, modern action movie. (Old-fashioned in the sense that it relies on actors, not special effects. Modern because the plot, subject matter, style, dialog, etc. are all 2009/now.)

The interpersonal dramatic relationships are all well presented, and set up the action convincingly, but they are otherwise not important.

Mills is at odds with his ex-wife, out of touch with his daughter, and retired from a job as a special operative from the government, which cost him his family: they think he ignored them. He, of course, loves them.

When his daughter is kidnapped by a sex-traffic ring in France he uses (as he says in the preview/promos), his "very particular set of skills" to try to save her.