Taken: The Movie

Hubby and I had some alone time on Presidents Day, so we went out for coffee and then saw the movie "Taken". Wow! We knew it was going to be fast paced action flick from the previews. And I had read another bloggers take on it, so I knew that it deals with the sex slave trafficking business. But I wasn't prepared for the singular, no holds barred devotion and love of a father, his raging wrath for those who have taken his daughter.

After a career in gov't service, being a "preventer of bad things", and being away from home more often than not,the father, Bryan is trying to reestablish his relationship with his 17 yr old daughter Kimmie. Kimmie, on the other hand, is all about fun and travel with her friend Amanda. They have cooked up a plan to visit Paris, but Bryan knows the dark side of Europe and isn't too excited about the idea. Since she's a minor, his daughter needs his permission to go. He finally agrees with conditions. A phone call every night, and he gets to drive her to the airport.

The trouble starts when Kimmie's friend, Amanda, decides a guy they meet is cute, they share a ride in a taxi (letting him know where they live), telling him they are there all alone in the apt, and generally being too free with information.

That afternoon, the thugs arrive, break in and the girls are "taken". Coincidentally, Kimmie is on her international cell phone with dad when the thugs break in. He gets important info through the cell phone, that helps him start tracking the girls in efforts to bring his daughter back home.

The rest of the movie is how Bryan uses his set of skills he learned in his gov't job in tracking down and defeating the bad guys. There is lots of fighting and lots of bad guys get killed. It shows women drugged and enslaved in the sex trafficking arena. Very heartbreaking to know that this really does go on in our world. But I appreciate this movie for being willing to shed some light on an injustice that needs to be addressed, and dealt with.

Towards the end of the movie, when Bryan is zeroing in where Kimmie is at, Bryan breaks into a lavish mansion where a prominent Parissean business man auctions off women. He finds the auction, but before he can find Kimmie, he gets caught. After an ingenious escape, Bryan comes face to face with the business man. During the fight, which Bryan is obviously winning, the man pleads with Bryan telling him, "Man, it was just business, it wasn't personal!" to which Bryan replies, "to me, it was all personal!"

That phrase, resonnated with me throughout the rest of the movie. In the end, Bryan saves Kimmie and they go home together. It has a happy ending, to a horrifying experience. But for me, I kept thinking about Bryan's love for his daughter. His ruthless drive to find his daughter and protect her from the thugs of the world who would do her harm. Tho I doubt the movie makers intended to draw this conclusion, I came away from the movie thinking about our Father's love for us, His children, His creation. I thought of how He must have felt when the serpent, Satan, enticed Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I thought of how our Lord loved us so much, that He pursued us with a righteous love to save us from ultimate destruction. And how He is pursuing the enemy with righteous wrath until the day when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire.

I've always enjoyed good guys vs bad guys movies, and good vs evil. Seeing a father portrayed like Bryan, gives me a broader picture of what love looks like. Our Father God isn't just a lovey-dovey, mushy God. No, there is a side to Him that is righteous anger, wrath and venegence. Not against me, not against His children, but against the enemy who would rob Him of relationship with us. And that, in a weird way, comforts me. Knowing that God is willing to fight for my soul, willing to sacrifice His son for a restored relationship with me brings me to my knees.

If you would like to know more about what Christians are doing to combat the slave trafficking and sex slave business, my blogger friend tracey has info and links on her blog. Whether or not, you choose to get involved, please pray for the victims, and pray that the perpetrators of this awful, inhumane act will be stopped and brought to justice.