When it first appeared, Taken (2008), starring Liam Neeson, was something completely different, and everyone knew it. People loved the movie for its uniqueness and even if they couldn’t verbalize it, they immediately noticed how different it was compared to the other movies of the genre.
Still, why was it so different?
Well, mostly because it subverted so many action genre tropes, some of which were really dominant at the time. With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top five action genre tropes that Taken has subverted.
1. Showing what real investigative work is like
James Bond, although infinitely cool, is arguably the worst spy in cinema history. Aside from the fact that everyone knows his name (and staying anonymous is supposed to be bare minimum), he always needs the most expensive technology and gadgets to get the job done.
Sure, it’s easy to be resourceful when you can just fire a laser from your watch, produce machine guns from the headlights of your Aston Martin, or get a satellite image of anything, anywhere, and at any time. Aside from being gimmicky and deus-ex-machina heavy, this really doesn’t seem to leave much room for Bond to show his talents.
Bryan Mills is the complete opposite.
In the movie, we see a man with a peculiar set of skills who can use them with minimal resources. After all, what kind of tech do we even see him use in the movie? All he does is records a phone call with the kidnappers and he does it using a rudimentary technique.
Sure, in 2024, he would use software for this since, even though some manufacturers (like Apple) have disabled this feature, you can still do it. If you want to read more on how to record a phone call on iPhone devices, you can do so quite easily. Just make sure that it’s legal in your state. In the context of the movie, however, legality was probably the last thing on the mind of the protagonist.
2. Not every encounter needs to be close
Have you ever watched a Japanese historical epic? Even in duels, there are no swordfights. The fights resemble a gunfight duel from a Western movie, where the quicker swordsman manages to cut down their opponent before they can cut them down. Most swordfights end with a single hit, and there’s no clashing of swords.
The main reason why this even exists in modern cinematography is because Hollywood thought it would be so cool to hear the clashing of swords and drag out the entire scene, making it more intense.
The problem is that this fake close call has been translated into all other genres. This is why you have the hand-to-hand master struggling with every opponent (we cannot allow for the scene to be done so quickly), which is one of the most annoying tropes in action movies.
This is why so many people loved Steven Seagal movies and why John Wick was such a hit. Here, you have a superior protagonist displaying his superiority in every encounter with the opposition. Most opponents are down in a single hit.
Just keep in mind that Taken is six years older than John Wick and that it seldom gets the credit it deserves.
This is one of the reasons why this movie has aged so well and why it’s so good even a decade and a half later.
3. Hero is not someone from a fairytale
A noble hero is one of the oldest and most annoying action movie tropes. Sure, we need to see that our noble hero has some sort of moral compass.
We need a strong reason to root for them instead of the bad guys; we need to see a difference. However, their moral purism sometimes goes into complete insanity. They are stopping a pursuit because they don’t want to trample an anthill, which is all but believable. However, this sort of scene is completely expected from a modern movie. The audience is sick of it.
Bryan is a hero, there’s no doubt about it, and the villains deserve what’s coming for them.
However, when he shoots (non-fatally) the wife of his former coworker or executes the Sheik who wanted to purchase his daughter as a slave execution style, this is something that the audience doesn’t expect to see on a screen. Why? Because they’re too corrupted by moral purism and are unaccustomed to seeing this type of realistic behavior.
Why realistic?
Do you really think any parent in his place (especially an ex-CIA hitman parent) wouldn’t have done the same? Keeping people up to unrealistic standards is what makes them non-relatable. It’s also what makes the immersion significantly harder.
4. There are consequences
In a traditional action movie, there are never consequences to actions or inaction. In this movie, while the daughter is saved unharmed, it’s clear that she is deeply traumatized, as anyone would have been in her place.
Kim’s friend doesn’t make it, and neither does a girl who has Kim’s denim jacket.
His friend Jean-Claude is deeply in the pocket of these traffickers. Now, one of the things that we’ve mentioned earlier is that moviemakers often resort to paining the hero as heroic as possible in order to make a distinction between them and the villains.
In reality, they should focus on the other party.
Sure, Jean-Claude can be seen as just another corrupt government official, which we all know is bad but doesn’t really seem despicable. That is until we see where all of this blood money comes from. The scene before the confrontation in his apartment shows us the trafficking ring that provides for his lifestyle. For us as an audience, this is all it takes.
This is a real world with real people, and most action movies focus on the protagonist so hard that they forget to give enough screen time to the other side.
5. The theme is unique
Most movies, even action movies, have a romantic moment or element. They have a romantic interest, even if it feels completely forced and unnatural. Here, the story is about a man trying to save his child. Sure, in the second part of the movie, they had to add a bit of reconciliation but when it comes to the original 2008 Taken as a whole, the movie is just flawless.
The story is about a man who spent his life acquiring a specific set of skills, finally applying them to save someone who’s closest to them.
It’s also a redemption story when you think about it.
His wife probably left him due to the long hours he was absent from his work and the type of hardened man he became due to the cruel and unforgiving nature of his work. He lost everything and gained nothing in return except for a set of skills that will, ultimately, be put to good use and save his family.
It’s a truly unique redemption ark that takes a while to settle in your mind.
The movie was even more unique at the time
Even by today’s standards, Taken subverts so many action movie tropes. At the time, however, it was completely revolutionary. It’s easy to feel underwhelmed when you try to compare it to the likes of John Wick; however, you need to keep in mind that this movie predates John Wick by over half a decade. With that in mind, the innovation it brought to the genre seems even more impressive.