While Neeson had shown his capacity for intense roles in films like “Batman Begins” and “Seraphim Falls,” few anticipated his full embrace of the high-octane action style in “Taken.” Despite mixed critical reception, as evidenced by a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie resonated with audiences craving straightforward and thrilling entertainment. On a modest $25 million budget, “Taken” dominated the box office globally, grossing an impressive $226 million, with over half of that revenue generated in the U.S. and Canada alone.

The film’s success lay in its straightforward yet gripping formula: Neeson dispatching villains with precision and delivering memorable one-liners. “Taken” signaled the advent of Neeson as an action star, a status he continues to hold.

Though many similar crime films starring Neeson followed, none quite captured the raw simplicity of “Taken.” The plot centers on Bryan Mills (Neeson), a divorced ex-CIA operative, seeking redemption for years spent on perilous missions away from his family. His life revolves around his teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), whom he strives to please. When Mills reluctantly allows Kim to vacation in Paris, she is swiftly abducted by an Albanian sex trafficking ring. Following a terse and now-famous phone exchange with her captors, Mills taps into his instincts and heads to France, determined to rescue his daughter.

Despite dozens of similar Liam Neeson-led crime flicks that followed it, nothing could replicate the simplicity of “Taken.” Bryan Mills (Neeson), a divorced dad and retired CIA officer, tries to make up for the years he spent on dangerous missions instead of caring for his family. His entire world now is Kim (Maggie Grace), his 17-year-old daughter, whom he tries to make as happy as possible. Mills reluctantly agrees to let Kim go on a weekend vacation in Paris with her best friend, but it’s not long until she gets kidnapped by an Albanian sex trafficking ring. After a succinct and now iconic phone conversation with one of them, Mills turns his alpha mode on and goes to France to hunt them all down and retrieve his kid.

The premise of “Taken” is as standard as they come. There are no unexpected twists or surprises, except for the film’s uncompromisingly ruthless approach. Mills is operating on a vicious vendetta, putting his CIA training to good use, and he has no moral quandaries about killing every single slimeball that gets in his way. Whether they help him get closer to finding his daughter doesn’t absolve them from their sins. This mercilessness lends a refreshing quality to Neeson’s commanding charisma.

Combined with the film’s gritty, raw, and ugly realism — which Morel delivers through desolate locations, menacing criminals, and grand corruption — the result is a high-octane and deeply satisfying action film that rarely takes its foot off the pedal, even if some of the directorial choices (like the overuse of rapid cuts) occasionally cheapen the overall quality of the picture.

Given its astonishing success, it’s hardly a surprise that “Taken” was followed by two sequels. Both 2012’s “Taken 2” and 2014’s “Taken 3” were incredibly lucrative at the box office, multiplying their relatively moderate budgets, largely thanks to Liam Neeson’s appeal. But despite their commercial success, neither could even remotely maintain what made the first film so exceptionally riveting. The quality dropped significantly — which isn’t shocking, given that director Pierre Morel didn’t return to helm those — making it palpable how shameless a cash grab both movies really were.

Regardless, Neeson enjoyed this newly-found action star status and the physically challenging work that went into it. As he said in an interview (via The Guardian), he found these types of roles “very flattering” at his age, although he added that there was a limit on how much and how long he could keep doing these features for. But that was 10 years ago already, and he hasn’t stopped yet. Besides starring in the low-key hilarious “The Naked Gun” reboot last year, he also headlined “Ice Road: Vengeance,” just the tip of the iceberg in the long line of low and mid-budget action thrillers Neeson’s done. Since “Taken” took off, he’s made over a dozen of them — such as “Non-Stop,” “The Commuter,” and “Memory,” just to mention a few — in the past two decades with mixed results.

Apparently, he’s yet to reach his limit. And looking at the roster of his upcoming movies in 2026 (like “Run All Night 2” and “Hotel Tehran”), it seems like he’s not thinking about ending these butt-kicking roles anytime soon.