There were social media movements to boycott the movie due to Liam Neeson's comments about what he did 40 years ago after his friend was raped. Two of my workmates decided not to support his movies anymore.

This doesn't make sense to me because Liam Neeson wasnt "exposed" - it wasn't dug up by someone else. He personally related the story in the context of saying why those thoughts are destructive and wrong.

But their decision, their loss.

About the movie...

It's certainly not what I expected but as other reviews have said, once you understand what they were going for it becomes very enjoyable. Don't expect Taken 4 (or 3...how many did they make?) - It's more like Fargo. If you liked the movie or the TV show, this is right up your alley.

Liam Neeson has the kind of no nonsense persona that is called for here. He's just a pleasure to imagine in dangerous situations, and in this story he's aided by some of the most palpable supporting performances I've seen lately. Some of my favorites were Tom Jackson as White Bull, Tom Bateman as Viking, Emmy Rossum as Kim, Julia Jones as the wife and I could go on, all these people and more are a delight and give the movie flavor and texture.

I found this film as entertaining as any I've seen lately. I understand it's a remake of a foreign film, well, they've done a great job Americanizing it. It falls slighltly apart bu the end but by then it's earned a pass.

This film was not what I was expecting but once I understood and came to grips with the fact it was a dark comedy, in a Fargo-esque sort of way, and a parody of revenge killing films, rather than meant to be taken seriously other than for its beautiful absurdity, I started to really enjoy it.

The whole movie was fun escapism with gratuitous violence, and hyper-exaggerated cliché portrayals of Native Americans, crime bosses and average men being local heroes, etc. Not to mention an exponentially growing kill tally. What is not to love?

It was a special treat for those of us that live in Denver, as although much of the movie was supposed to take place here, none of the neighborhoods, architecture, streets, buildings, trees, landscaping, mountain ranges, etc. matched anything close to what really exists in Denver. I spent the entire movie looking for something I could place as actually being in Denver, but I came up empty. Instead, a totally fictitious version thereof was portrayed (too surreal to match any actual city I am aware of, but closer to a blend of the more affluent parts of Los Angeles and Vancouver than Denver, with world class architecture and night clubs) which fit in perfectly with the artfully crafted alternative universe intended to be created. Like the bizarre relationships between the characters, I slowly began to realize that what first appeared to be a sloppy annoyance was in fact an intentional critique of the genre and actually a quite clever game with the audience.

Many will undoubtedly knock this film for being unrealistic, absurd, over the top, culturally insensitive, and with settings that did not match named cities (at least those such as Denver that actually exist). Those people just failed to see that was the entire point. You shouldn't go in expecting to see realism, complex character development, suspense and drama, or something akin to Taken. Instead, go in expecting to see a dark comedy parody film. Think Fargo meets Peppermint, with a wink to Quentin Tarantino in honor of his impact on modern cinema.