An under-the-radar action thriller called Seized — which has a plot that sounds suspiciously like Liam Neeson’s Taken — is currently one of the most-watched movies on Netflix. And if you haven’t heard of this one? That’s okay, because there are almost always some oddities, sleeper titles, and head-scratchers that end up on this Top 10 list from Netflix at any given moment. But in this post, we’ve got you covered.
On paper, at least, Seized sounds like a paint-by-numbers action thriller, and garnered reviews that tend to bear that out. Basically, according to Rotten Tomatoes, the movie tells the story of a former special forces agent, whose son gets kidnapped. And the former agent “must now wipe out three dangerous crime syndicates, if he wants to see his son alive again.” So yeah, like I said, a bit reminiscent of Taken, right down to a similarly terse title. In fact, the two are synonyms of each other.
Most watched movies on Netflix
Isaac Florentine’s Seized is #5 today on #Netflix! Still can’t believe @MarioVanPeebles and @TheScottAdkins really did a movie together. 🤯 #WorldsCollide pic.twitter.com/oPgBv5vSBQ
— track100 (@jmt_in_space) November 15, 2021
As of the time of this writing, Seized is currently the #5 most-watched movie on Netflix. To be more specific, it’s currently in that spot on Netflix’s Top 10 movies list for the US, though the streamer also maintains two other rankings. They are a Top 10 list of TV shows for the US, and then a combined movies and TV show list.
The film was directed by Isaac Florentine and written by Richard Lowry. Stars include Scott Adkins, Mario Van Peebles, and Karlee Leilani Perez.
A Guardian review gave Seized a ho-hum 2/5 stars, bemoaning it as a “standard-issue cross-border beat-’em-up.” Continues the review: “With its one-word past-participle title, it’s as if the makers weren’t even trying to hide that this is basically a knock-off of Taken, with much lower-wattage stars and cheaper locations.” However, the review goes on to praise the action scenes and the effort that Adkins brings to this role. So, who knows — fans of big, brash action titles may end up enjoying this one.
Seized movie trailer
If you still want to check it out yourself — and many of you apparently are doing so, given its prominent placement on Netflix’s Top 10 list — the trailer is embedded below. The movie, by the way, actually came out last fall. This might help explain why it slipped in without too much notice since the pandemic was still top of mind for everyone. More so than now, at any rate.
The Top 10 list
Meanwhile, check out today’s full rundown of the Top 10 movies at the moment on Netflix. A list that includes, as we’ve noted in this post, Seized right smack in the middle at #5.
We’ve included links to each title’s Netflix landing page below. Also, you can check out our recent coverage of some of the titles here. Examples of the latter are also among the more high-profile Netflix releases of late, including Red Notice, The Harder They Fall, and Army of Thieves.
