Jan 28, 2009 12:54 PM
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(Updated Jan 28, 2009 12:58 PM)
I saw this movie way back in early november but refrained from writing the review then even though I liked the movie.... cant realise why now!?! Anyway I took a chance on the movie just bacause I some how liked the tag line- ’ I dont know who you are ... I dont know what you want .... but I will find you and I will kill you !! ’Cheesy I know but it some how aroused my curiosity.
The plot is a very simple one. An ex-CIA agent who specializes in ’prevention’ was one of the best in his job..... but it came at a price... his neglected family which moved one . The movie starts with Liam Neeson trying to make up for lost time by moving in to a town to be close to his daughter. He struggles and does odd jobs to get his daughter a top of the line karaoke machine( she reveals her passion for singing) for her birthday only to find that her rich step-father got her a horse!! His ex-wife isnt fond of him and he never gets the chance to truly make them realise howmuch he regrets not being with then when they needed them.
His 17 year old daughter ( Maggie Grace) needs his signature to leave the country for France for a month long vacation with her friend. Though initially very reluctant to let her leave Liam finally gives in when he gets blamed by both mother and daughter. on a condition that she call him everyday from a cell phone he gives. On the way to the airport he realises that she isnt going to Paris alone but a cross country tour across europe to every venue the band U2 is playing. But he is not allowed a chance to question by his ex-wife who tells him he is too strict.
But as irony would have it a group of miscreants chatting with the girls in the airport realises that the girls are alone in Paris and breaks into their home later that night with backup. Maggie is on phone with her dad and is in another part of the apartment watching her friend get man handled. The next scene is one that I greatly admired... her father asks her to go to a bedroom and hide under the bed. He then tells her they are gonna find her and that there isnt a way to escape so when they pull her out keep the the phone on the floor and yell out the characteristcs of the kidnappers such as height , hair style , marks , tattoos and such and he promises her that he will find her. The pain of anguish that passes thru his face as he hears his daughter being pulled and she screaming out the height , tattoo mark and hair length is palpable. HIs daughter finally stops scraming after a heavy crash sound and heavy breathing ca be heard ... Liam then says the by now classic line "i dont know who you are... I dont know what you want... if you are looking for ransom let me tell you I dont have it... what I do have is a particular set of skills that I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you but if you dont, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you "NOw you guys tell me if that dialogue is chilling or not.
Liam by the way on hearing about the kidnapping immediately records the conversation and hooks it to a device to pinpoint the location of the call. HE then calls in the favour of some o his CIA buddies and learns that the kidnappers are a very dangerous albanian crime organization with lots of man power focusing on sex trade. Its widely believed that once they get hold of a girl there is a 96 hour window after which you never find the victim again. SO Liam sets out to Paris to find his baby girl and what follows next is a fast paced action thriller.
What I have mentioned makes up for half an hour of the movie max.. the rest I urge you to watch and find out. Liam Neeson is excellent in this movie and u will not for a moment doubt that it isnt a grieveing and enraged father. This movie belong totally to him. Really the rest of them had precious little to do but they did act convincingly. What I dont understand though is even though they have a good thriller/action movie in their hands, the makers released this movie slowly and without much if any publicity. They released the movie in france in feb 2008 and in UK in september and is set to be released in US this month.. Jan of 2009!!! The movie has recieved geerally positive reviews and I feel its a worthy of a watch atleast. IT has all the elements of a thriller and does hold your attention and the cinematography is excellent.
But be warned of slighlty provocative scenes and mild violence. Do watch it and tell me how it goes.
