Liam Neeson clearly relished playing Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins.  After a career filled predominantly with brooding, righteous men, action thriller Taken from District 13 director Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson, sees him back in the action vein as retired cop Bryan whose daughter is kidnapped into an Albanian sex trafficking ring.

Bryan, a doting, overprotective father who has left the world of James Bond bravado behind for small potato security jobs such as making sure no-one stabs Holly Valance (who plays a bit-part as a famous singer who helps the plot limp along before the explosions start). With an icy ex-wife (Famke Janssen), a tenuous relationship with his irritating daughter (Lost’s Maggie Grace) and a crummy LA apartment; Bryan’s life is in the doldrums. However when his daughter goes to Paris against his better judgement and is almost instantly kidnapped, Bryan dusts off his witty comebacks and sets off to Paris with his specialised set of sleuthing skills and a hefty appetite for vengeance.

Taken is a peculiar cross between Lilya 4 Ever and Shoot ‘em Up. The lack of realism, ultra violence, and bottomless voids in the plot can all be overlooked considering the slickness of the action sequences which play out over a suitably gritty looking Paris; the ludicrous, carpet-bombing rescue approach; and the unintentional humour of the utter bombast of the chase. However the worthiness of the sex trafficking subplot sits uneasily within the main story.

The story swings from empathy to voyeurism and Bryan’s sympathies are just as erratic. He is prepared to destroy and maim a large portion of Paris to save his daughter, yet when he comes across other girls in her plight and innocent bystanders along the way he shows mild pity at best. The use of a very real and horrific industry as a vehicle for a grizzled Liam Neeson to show off his karate moves unwittingly reverts back to pure exploitation cinema and it is hard to tell if somebody thought they were making a valid comment or if they just needed a brush to tar the Albanians with.

They are insensitively used as scapegoats; a perfect geographical compromise between the Middle East and Russia, amalgamating the two great American nemeses (but of course, they’re much worse – at one point Bryan’s security buddy says ‘Even the Russians don’t fuck with these guys’) and pandering to the moral panic of unregistered immigration. Sensitivity and realism are hardly the take Morel was aiming for, however when controversial issues are used to create compassion for his daughter’s plight, and perpetrate a new kind of evil ‘other’, the film verges uncomfortably close to misogyny and racism.

The film’s strong point is the prominent members of the cast. Liam Neeson is gloriously hammy, borderline psychopathic as Bryan, and his relentless zeal for righteousness sees him verging on the brink of murderous fanaticism. These unlikeable facets relieve Neeson of the world-weary inner turmoil of the burdened hero and allow him to become a one-man killing machine with a unique set of questionable values. His colleague Jean-Claude (Olivier Bourdin) is also given worthwhile screen time and provides suitably deadpan comic relief. Now a member of the petit bourgeois, with a laissez-faire attitude and an extravagant, overtly Gallic accent; he is the morally ambiguous European, against whom Neeson’s wistful Irish/American persona and chaotic freewheeling is rendered righteous.

Fundamentally, Taken is a terrible and vitriolic film, working every revenge story cliché in the book and the simplistic, one-sided portrayal of complicated social problems impedes the shlocky fun by implying a confused message. However, breathtaking and realistically painful action sequences, well-paced tension, kick-ass ‘parkour’ moves and a sheer thrill ride of ridiculously over-the-top proportions makes this an intense and engrossing film. Four stars if you’re a testosterone fuelled Jason Statham fan, but any fans of even the grittiest social realism should steer well clear.