This forgotten Liam Neeson thriller deserved to replace Taken as his signature franchise

The new Naked Gun movie works particularly well because its star Liam Neeson, like Leslie Nielsen in the original, plays the lead in a spoofy comedy after accumulating a robust filmography’s worth of recognition as a much less zany performer. Though Neeson’s characters and performances have always been on the serious side, his career got a makeover tailored to his particularly intense set of skills in 2009 when Taken became a surprise smash. Many more thrillers in a similar vein followed, including two more Taken movies with diminishing returns — as memorable as Taken remains, the premise of an ex-CIA operative relentlessly pursuing the kidnappers of his daughter doesn’t lend itself particularly well to an ongoing franchise. But a few months before Taken 3 capped off the improbable adventu