Photo from IMDb.com

“Taken” is the first great action film of 2009, with enough car chases, bullets, and hand-to-hand combat to keep you revved ‘til summer.

Liam Neeson takes center stage as Bryan Mills, a government agent who has retired in order to spend more time with his teenage daughter Kim (Lost’s Maggie Grace).

He strongly objects to her wish of traveling to Paris for the summer without a chaperone, but gives in to stay on her good side.

His worst fears are realized when Kim and her friend Amanda are abducted shortly after landing in Paris. The sound of her screams over a cell phone are enough to awaken his inner killer again.

What follows is a taut, fast-paced thriller that pulls out all the stops as Mills hunts down the Albanians who plan to sell his daughter into an international prostitution ring.

Now, I must admit, I rolled my eyes when I first saw the trailer for “Taken.” It looked like just another chick-in-peril flick, with another tortured hero bent on revenge.

It turns out I was right. But the film, like Neeson’s former assassin, is really good at what it does. Director Pierre Morel has crafted a brutal film that never lets up, as Mills beats the bad guys to a pulp, then shoots a few more.

“Taken” is a refreshing adrenaline rush in the midst of all these pretentious art films and sappy Oscar contenders.

It is not a meditation on vigilante justice, nor does it stop to ponder the morality of its hero’s choices.

What it does do is offer up some expertly choreographed fight and chase scenes, and prove that heroes can be just as cunning and ruthless as any villain.