10 Movies Way Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

Liam Neeson truly believed that Taken, the movie that reinvented the veteran character actor as one of cinema's most bankable action heroes just a few years shy of his 60th birthday, was destined to go straight-to-video. Instead, Pierre Morel's action flick rode a wave of positive word-of-mouth to become an unlikely smash-hit and rejuvenate Neeson's career in one fell swoop.

Taken follows the same template as pretty much all of producer and co-writer Luc Besson's European-set actioners, but the material is elevated much higher than it should be thanks to his lead actor's undeniable charisma, gravitas and ability to sell such cliched dialogue with the utmost conviction, as the now-iconic phonecall perfectly demonstrates.

Even though it was released in the cinematic dumping ground of late-January, the throat-punching extravaganza became a surprise blockbuster, ultimately earning $226.8m worldwide on a $25m budget. The two sequels may be utter crap, but Taken was one of 2008's most pleasant surprises and showed once again how a genuine movie star can elevate even the most derivative material.