Taken (2008)

Thanks to Taken, a whole generation of dads gets nervous the second anyone mentions a trip to Paris. The movie itself is thin. Everyone around Liam Neeson is cardboard: Kim is written like a kid at recess, the ex-wife exists to be wrong about everything, and the villains are faceless goons lined up for punching. Critics gave it a 50 on Metacritic and they had a point. But then Neeson picks up the phone, delivers that calm little speech, and the whole thing turns into a guided missile with a dad mustache. Pierre Morel cuts the fights fast and mean, and Bryan never wastes a single move, which is weirdly soothing to watch. Audiences ate it up, $145 million domestic on a reported $25 million budget, and IMDb voters still have it at a 7.7. A 6.4 because the action is lean and mean and the story underneath it is paper thin. $58.41 says you do the phone speech in your worst Liam Neeson voice before the day is over.

What works: Liam Neeson’s cold, calm focus, and fight scenes that move fast and never pad the 90-minute runtime.

What doesn’t: Every character except Bryan is cardboard, and the villains are faceless goons with nothing to say.

Who it’s for: Dads who already worry too much, and anyone who wants a lean action movie for a Friday night.