New story details surrounding an upcoming action movie suggest that Milla Jovovich might be the perfect replacement for Liam Neeson's Taken character. When director Pierre Morel's Taken first hit the big screens in 2008, it received mixed reviews from critics. While some appreciated how it offered escapist fantasy to male audiences across the globe, others could not help but overlook how it seemed derivative of many similar films from the past.
Despite being divisive, however, Taken performed incredibly well at the box office by earning $226 million against a budget of $25 million. The film played a crucial role in turning Liam Neeson into an action star. Its success even spawned multiple sequels, allowing Neeson to have a full-fledged action franchise under his belt. A decade after Liam Neeson last played Bryan Mills in Taken 3, it is hard to imagine anyone else portraying the character. However, after all these years, Milla Jovovich is about to play a role that could be a worthy replacement for the ex-Green Beret and CIA officer.
Milla Jovovich's Upcoming Movie Sounds An Awful Lot Like Taken (& She's The New Liam Neeson)
Like Mills, Jovovich's Character Will Rescue Her Daughter
As the new story details surrounding Milla Jovovich's upcoming thriller movie project, titled Protector, suggest, she will play a Bryan Mills-esque character named Nikki. The character is a former war hero who initially believes that her violent past is behind her, allowing her to peacefully raise her daughter, Chloe. However, to her dismay, trouble comes knocking at her door when she wakes up in an abandoned factory one day and soon learns that someone has abducted her daughter.
While Taken seems to create an escapist fantasy for fathers by placing Mills in the role of a relentless "protector," Protector seems to do something similar by portraying a mother's determination to keep her daughter safe.
Determined to save Chloe before it is too late, Nikki puts her military skills on full display and races against time to find the truth behind her daughter's abduction. As she lurks in the depths of the city's dangerous underworld, she is also pursued by both the police and the military. Nikki's story in Protector sounds quite similar to Bryan Mills' from Taken. While Taken seems to create an escapist fantasy for fathers by placing Mills in the role of a relentless "protector," Protector seems to do something similar by portraying a mother's determination to keep her daughter safe.
3:02
Related
Why Taken 4 With Liam Neeson Never Happened
Liam Neeson starred in three Taken movies as Bryan Mills, and with the actor's popularity, why didn't Taken 4 happen?
Protector has nothing to do with the Taken movies and, by no means, is an extension of the action movie franchise. However, considering the similarities between Nikki and Bryan Mills, it would be fair to say that Milla Jovovich is all set to become the new Liam Neeson. Directed by Adrian Grünberg (of the Rambo: Last Blood fame), Protector will likely have its own unique selling points, but it would still be fun to see how it would reimagine Taken's tropes while etching its own identity in the action genre.
Why Milla Jovovich Is Perfect As A Replacement For Taken's Bryan Mills
Milla Jovovich's Action Background Makes Her Perfect For The Role
With her long line of compelling roles in action movies like Resident Evil, The Fifth Element, and Hellboy, Milla Jovovich has already proven her ability to portray badass and resourceful female characters who can handle themselves and fight evil in the gravest situations. Owing to this, it is not too hard to imagine her as a character who is set to replace Taken's Bryan Mills. Like Bryan's story in Taken, Nikki's narrative in Protector will also have its emotional core rooted in the fierce love and determination of a parent to protect their child at all costs.
Milla Jovovich almost performed all her stunts in 2002's Resident Evil.
Therefore, even though it is an action-centric role, it will require the emotional depth that Milla Jovovich is perfectly capable of delivering. Similar to Liam Neeson, Jovovich also has an incredible screen presence, which will allow her to embody the vengeful former war hero in Protector. Not to mention, since Liam Neeson's Taken movies ran their course before reaching their conclusion, it would be refreshing to see how the same formula would work with a talented female lead like Milla Jovovich.
Taken stars Liam Neeson as ex-Green Beret and ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills, who retired from his life of fighting in order to be there for his family. When his teenage daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) travels to Paris and is kidnapped by human traffickers, Mills launches into action, mounting a one-man rescue mission that sees him tear through gangs of European criminals with extreme prejudice in hopes of finding and rescuing Kim before it's too late.
Director Pierre Morel
Release Date January 30, 2009
Studio(s) 20th Century
Distributor(s) 20th Century
Writers Luc Besson , Robert Mark Kamen
Runtime 90 minutes
Franchise(s) Taken
Budget $25 million
English (US) ·