STACK Jun #128

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audience,” says director Olivier Megaton.
“So you have to build your characters in
another way. It’s tricky because things
keep snowballing. And that spiralling pace
is even built into the characters’ emotional
and human development. First, we’re in the
midst of some emotional turbulence, and
then the action bursts in, like a big typhoon...
When the action barrels in, you don’t see it
coming because you’re submerged in that
emotional chaos. Then suddenly you’re in this
physical chaos. That’s the basic structure of
this movie.”
Though the first two Taken films follow
MIlls in his pursuit of someone close to him
having been, well, taken (all without ever
using the word “kidnapped”), the third
in the series instead revolves around
him evading authority. “The underlying
stories in the Taken films are solid,”
Neeson says. “We’ve tried to avoid
doing anything in excess just to excite
an audience. The triggers for that action
have always been very strong. And it’s,
of course, about Bryan Mills defending
his family and protecting them, against
all odds. You have that bedrock of a very
stable relationship that’s being tested
all the time. So once you have that base
in place and audiences believe in that
charge of love – especially between Bryan
and his daughter Kim – you can take the
action anywhere you want.”
Taken 3 is the biggest Taken film yet.
Highlights include lightning-fast fight
sequences, an incredible freeway chase, and
relentless pacing. For Neeson, Taken 3 is
the culmination of a film series that has both
thrilled and moved audiences around the
world. “I think moviegoers
are in store for a cinematic
joyride, many thrills and
spills and certainly a lot
of heart,” he promises.
“And I’m a big believer in
heart in movies.”
JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi
visit FEATURE DVD&BD
034
THIRD TIME
TAKEN
T he Taken series propelled Liam
Neeson into action movie glory,
as the father who will stop at
nothing to protect his family from harm.
To audiences, the character of Bryan
Mills is as much identified by his love for
his family as his lethal skill set.
“I was excited to come back for
the third film, but I did have some
reservations at first, because what
else could we do?” muses Neeson.
He knew they couldn’t lose Kim again,
“otherwise [Bryan would] be up for
really bad parenting”, and acknowledged
screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark
Kamen for creating an interesting storyline
for the third film.
“What makes Taken 3 a quintessential
entry in the trilogy is that, at its heart, it’s still
about Mills doing everything in his power to
save his family,” says Neeson. “That’s why
these films resonate with a global audience,
because at their core, they are about the love
and sanctity of family and the lengths we’ll
go to protect that.
“Even though Bryan Mills is a guy with
a ‘particular set of skills’, he’s also a kind
of everyman,” he adds. “Parents will do
anything for their kids and they see that
in Bryan. For all his faults, he still is a very
devoted father who’ll do anything for his
child. But I think audiences also enjoy the fact
that he bucks the system and doesn’t trust
anyone in authority. And if he has to break
the law, then he does.”
One of the more attractive elements of
the Taken series is its ability to balance both
the emotional and psychological elements
with the action sequences. “The more action
you have, the more you have to prepare the
Bryan Mills, the ex-covert operative with a “very particular set of skills”,
returns for the third and final time inTAKEN 3.
We've tried to avoid
doing anything in excess
just to excite an audience