''Taken'' is a series of English-language French

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

s, beginning with '' Taken'' in 2008, created by producer

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

and American screenwriter

Robert Mark Kamen Robert Mark Kamen (born October 9, 1947) is an American screenwriter, best known as creator of '' The Karate Kid franchise'', as well as for his later collaborations with French filmmaker Luc Besson, which includes the screenplay for ''The Fifth ...

. The dialogue of all three films is primarily English, and all three feature

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

as Bryan Mills. The first film received mixed reviews from critics but a positive response from audiences with commercial success, the series grossed a combined $929,451,015 worldwide. A

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

based on a similar storyline and starring

Clive Standen Clive James Standen (born 22 July 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the NBC series '' Taken'' (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as Rollo in the History Channel series ''Vikings'' ( ...

as Bryan Mills premiered in February 2017. The series has also experienced diminishing critical reception with each successive film.

Films

''Taken'' (2008)

A retired CIA operative named Bryan Mills crosses the globe to rescue his 17-year-old daughter after she is kidnapped by a group of Albanian smugglers while traveling in France.

''Taken 2'' (2012)

Mafia boss and terrorist Murad, the father of Marko, whom Bryan had killed by electrocution in the first film of the trilogy, plans to capture Bryan, who is vacationing with his family in Istanbul, and avenge his son's death.

''Taken 3'' (2014)

Bryan has been framed for the murder of his ex-wife, Lenore. He then sets out to clear his name by going after the real killers, while also eluding capture from U.S. authorities for whom he formerly worked.

Television

''Taken'' (2017–2018)

In September 2015,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

ordered a ''Taken'' television series depicting a young Bryan Mills. In February 2016, ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'' actor

was announced to play the young Bryan Mills, with Alex Carey as the showrunner.

Cast and crew

Cast

Crew

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

In popular culture

* On January 15, 2015, to promote the American release of ''Taken 3'',

starred in a short film on the show entitled ''Taken 4: A-Paco-Lypse'' on American

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''; the short revolved around Bryan Mills helping his old friend

Guillermo Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People *Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player *Guillermo Ar� ...

rescue his kidnapped dog, Paco from "Kimmel".Taken 4 with Liam Neeson, Guillermo & Jimmy Kimmel
/ref> * In 2015, Liam Neeson portrayed a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of Brian Mills in ''

Ted 2 ''Ted 2'' (stylized as ted2) is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild. The second installment in the ''Ted'' franchise, it serves as a sequel to the 2012 film of the ...

'' (credited as "Customer"), in which he shops at the supermarket Ted works at for ''Trix'' cereal, asking that no-one be sent after him due to it supposedly being "exclusively for kids", only for him to return the cereal in the

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

after having been followed and attacked. * In 2017, Bryan Mills was featured in the fifth season of the

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series ''

The Most Popular Girls in School ''The Most Popular Girls in School'' (abbreviated ''MPGIS'') is an American adult stop-motion animation, animated comedy web series that debuted on YouTube on May 1, 2012. Created by Mark Cope and Carlo Moss, the series animates Barbie, Ken (dol ...

'', in which he is searching

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for his daughter Kim, after she was kidnapped by a rival group of French

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

while representing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a model herself. Liam Neeson reprises his role as Mills.

References

External links

* {{Taken (film series) Film series introduced in 2008 20th Century Studios franchises Action film franchises