Miracle at St Anna

Taken,Pierre Morel (2008)

Pierre Morel was born on May 12, 1964 in France. He is known for his work on Taken (2008), The Transporter (2002) and Transporter 2 (2005).Taken stars Liam Neeson, Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK. Liam previously worked on Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), and provided the voice for Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). 

The plot follows a retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), who during his service period had a hard time balancing between his personal and professional life which resulted in a divorce from his wife Lenora (Famke Janssen) who took custody of their daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). He spends his retirement days with his retired CIA friends taking on small assignments from time to time to earn some quick money. Things take a turn when Kim plans a trip to Paris by following a band, despite Bryan's disapproval of the idea that the place is not safe for young girls travelling alone. However, due to aggressive support from Lenore he agrees on certain conditions to Kim that she stays in constant touch with him. When the girls touchdown to Paris, they are kidnapped by a group of Albanian mobsters who are in the business of women trafficking. These events force Bryan to get back into action and rescue his daughter within a span of 96 hours before she disappears from his reach forever.

Films involving secret agents given particular assignments to complete have been a huge trend. Hollywood has produced major success franchises out of this genre with "The Bourne Series" and also the famous "James Bond films". 

In the opening scenes of the film we see the birthday of a young 5 year old girl and her mother unwrapping presents, we can tell this is either a memory or a flash back due to the image quality of the an old home video. This quickly cuts to Bryan sitting in his home sleeping, this shows the audiences form the very beginning that his love for his daughter is controlling his life, we later find out that he has even moved house to be near his daughter who now lives with her mother and step father. 

We see a glimpse of the power and the skills that Bryan has acquired by his time at the CIA as he is shown saving the life of a famous singer from a crazy fan with a Knife at her concert that Bryan and his friends were providing security for. 

The opening is definitely a positive as it shows the world at its very best for the protagonist who seems to be fighting to get back to a complete family. This happy joyful beginning contrasts with the emotions during the film but links in with the ending of the film which shows a happy and a tighter family. 

Had a budget of an estimated $25 Million and being a box office hit it made over $226.8 Million.