Renegade Review: NBC's Taken

Welcome Renegade Nation it’s me Naughty Nicole and it’s time for another Renegade Review. And this go round, we’re focusing on NBC’s latest offering, Taken. The utter pointlessness of this constant mining and revamping of movies and shows has reached a new precipice of low with Taken.

When you think of Taken, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Liam Neeson. The second thing is the threat he delivers in his gravelly, papa-bear-mode speech explaining to his daughter’s kidnapper over the phone that he has a particular set of skills and he’s not afraid to use them. Taken, manages to simultaneously deliver nothing reminiscent of the Liam Neeson movie franchise, while also being a completely different show after the premiere episode. It's that rare double middle finger that certainly doesn't benefit this average and mostly forgettable show that Taken becomes.

So let’s face it: The most interesting thing about Taken is Liam Neeson as an action hero. Which means the most interesting thing about NBC’s Taken, the series, is the fact that it doesn’t have Liam Neeson. Nor does it have any of the charisma or magnetism he brought to the story. That’s not completely the fault of Clive Standen (Vikings), who’s saddled with having to fill movie-star-sized shoes as the younger Bryan Mills, but it is the fault of a series that has no idea what it wants to do beyond using its recognizable, franchised name.

So let’s get this out of the way up front: Taken is not a very good movie as movies go. I mean, it’s a brutally efficient delivery mechanism for Neeson to growl and kill an astounding number of foreign nationals in only 90 minutes, and it’s exciting. The sequels became increasingly less efficient, more sadistic and more xenophobic. The appeal of the franchise can be boiled down to Neeson's rugged exceptionalism, a few European postcard locations and the satisfying crack that comes from breaking the bones of a man who keeps kidnapping members of your family.