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Co-written by Luc Besson (The Professional) and Robert Kamen (The Transporter), this film lives up to its pedigree as an edge-of-your-seat action thriller. Bryan (Liam Neeson) has had his daughter taken from him twice. The first time he was too busy working for the government (he coyly puts it that he was stopping bad people from doing bad things) to notice that his marriage was falling apart. The second time his seventeen year old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) was kidnapped on holiday in Paris with her friend, whilst speaking to him on the phone to him. It’s not a plot-spoiler to tell you that she was adducted by a group of Albanians who subdue their captives with drugs and sell them as prostitutes – the more pure, the more money they can get for them.
The script heavy-handedly emphasises that Bryan is really a good father even though he hasn’t been around all that much and he certainly can’t afford the goodies her replacement step-dad can. Using a couple of contacts and the skills he acquired working for the government, Bryan heads off for Paris in the step-dad’s private jet to rescue his little girl. This American in Paris proves he can defeat roomfuls of baddies as well as outwit the local police, with the only disconcerting thing being that the audience was actually cheering as the body count mounted. The tension is unrelenting as extra close up camera shots follow countless fights and car chases. See if you can tally how many foreign scum equal one American virgin. This film is so good – for all the wrong reasons.
Rated MA and directed by Pierre Morel
