Taken 2

Every time I see Liam Neesan now - and I do like him - I am reminded of my thoughts from the trailer review of The Grey....


"I'm not sure when Liam Neeson became a badass, action hero type.  I checked IMDB and I think badass Neesan begins in Batman Begins.  After that, it's Taken and more badassary.  Prior to that, he seemed to play milder mannered characters.  I liked him in Kinsey and.... wait a minute... he played Darkman in 1990... nevermind. 

Maybe Neeson was always a badass but never thought of as a badass so in the last 10 years he chose roles where his badassary was more blatant and in your face.  Does that happen to actors as they age?  Look at Ralph Fiennes.  My image of him was a poncy annoyance on screen (though not as poncy or annoying as Joseph Fiennes).  Ralph was ridiculous as Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon (which was a bad remake of Manhunter- even though the ending was truer to the Thomas Harris novel, Red Dragon).  Tom Noonan was awesome as Dolarhyde.  Fiennes was a joke."


R. Fiennes has since changed that image so I'm off the anti-Fiennes kick, Ralph, anyway.

Taken 2 is really Taken Also or Also Taken....

The first one was okay.  I just find it amazing that criminals decide to target former killers to antagonize.  Seriously, if I'm a criminal, I don't want to mess with a guy that could wipe out my entire extended family with his will.  Aside from Neesan's badassary, the sex/slave trade, kidnapping women and children is on par with the evil of child pornography.  How is it that some humans can see other humans as nothing but soul less objects. Again I say, as much as we've evolved in some areas, in many we are still barbarians.

Taken was every parents nightmare and showed one parent, who happened to be a trained killer, do what all parents who have experienced such loss wish they could do.  As a movie, Taken made a statement and was entertaining enough.  Sadly, the true entertainment was watching the predators die, one-by-one.

Taken 2, Also... revenge.  I think I've said this before but church (regardless of denomination or faith) tells us to "turn the other cheek," to "do unto others as you would have others do unto you," to "judge not lest ye be judged."  Don't even get me started on the whole karmic discussion. You get my point.  State/governments are in the business of "justified" revenge as we see everyday.  Film, simply glorifies revenge.

Don't get me wrong, on film it's entertaining.  But the positive spiritual messages preached to us when we are young don't seem practiced in the real world.  Perhaps that is why we are so cynical and are quick to point out the hypocrisy?  This train of thought is giving me a headache.

I'll likely rent Taken 2 Also Taken when I feel the need to view revenge because I choose not practice it...