There's a TV show based on 'Taken' and you can watch it today

Here are the Taken films on a scale of brilliant to dogshit:

BRILLIANT: Taken

DOGSHIT: Taken 2, Taken 3

But hey, it’s easy to ignore films, isn’t it? People often have a little cry about terrible sequels “ruining” the original, but the original still exists, no? They haven’t actually changed it or stopped it from being good – just ignore the bad sequels, easy. The same can be said for TV shows based on great films – everybody has already ignored the Rush Hour show, haven’t they? And the Ferris Bueller series hasn’t really affected the status of the original, has it?

No, is the answer, so when you watch the TV show based on Taken (aka one of the greatest movies of all time), it’s probably best to take it on its own merits, and treat it as a separate entity. More on exactly why you should do this later, but first, the trailer:

So, this is actually serving as a prequel to the Taken movies, even though it’s weirdly set in the present day – see, best to ignore everything. Basically, this Bryan Mills is about 30 years younger than the one we know and love(d for one film), and it concerns yet another revenge mission after someone close to him is “taken”. From thereon in you’ve got secret government operatives, secret crack teams of CIA good guys, secret surveillance opportunities and not-so-secret sets of skills.

Reviews have been mixed (it aired in the US yesterday), but most seem to edge towards the “ignore the fact it’s related to Taken”, because, you know, it’s not properly – name only, almost. Besides, there are car chases, fight scenes and Clive Standen (Vikings) is suitably gruff and intimidating in the central role.

Each episode will trickle out on a Tuesday, with the pilot episode already available today on Amazon Prime.