Taken – “Pilot Episode” (2016, USA, Colour, 43m) ∗∗½ pr. Luc Besson; d. Alex Graves; w. Alexander Cary; ph. Thomas Kloss; m. Trevor Morris; ed. Jordan Goldman; exec. pr. Thomas Anargyros, Luc Besson, Alexander Cary, Edouard de Vésinne, Matthew Gross. Cast: Clive Standen, Gaius Charles, Brooklyn Sudano, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Michael Irby, Jose Pablo Cantillo, James Landry Hébert, Jennifer Beals, Jennifer Marsala, Simu Liu, Ali Kazmi, Celeste Desjardins, Victoria Snow. Former Green Beret Bryan Mills (Standen) must overcome a personal tragedy, in order to get revenge while starting his career as a special intelligence operative. Standen is no substitute for Liam Neeson in this TV prequel to the TAKEN movie trilogy. Whilst the star lacks charisma and the dialogue feels like its been extracted from a scripting manual, the pilot sets up the series neatly enough and is well shot. There are also enough competently staged action sequences to enliven the standard espionage plot.