TAKEN 2 (LIAM NEESON, THE NEW CHUCK NORRIS)

Big shout to Quinton & Rebecca for both recommending on the same day that I watch this!

Liam Neeson (aka the new Chuck Norris) returns as the butt kicking retired CIA agent who has a family member kidnapped and he has to now employ his special skill set to find his family member and make the bad guys pay!



Four years ago, his daughter was taken...now it's him and his wife!  In a plot to get revenge, the relatives of the unfortunate souls from Taken decide to make Neeson and his family suffer then die (did they not see what he did to their relatives in the first movie??)  But, what kind of movie would Taken 2 be if we didn't watch Liam use his "very specific set of skills" to free himself and cause mayhem all over Istanbul's face?!

"Oh no, I'm DEFINITELY gonna kill you....I just wanna know if you think she's pretty"

I would say the only disappointment I felt was that there was no cool makeshift torture devices like what he did in the first part with the "electric chair."  Other than that, you have good old Taken fun with Neeson using his Steven Seagal type fighting (Aikido), and using his deep gravelly voice to explain over the phone to his daughter he's about to be kidnapped...just a wild ride.

Stevie showing us how he used to do Liam's moves before they were cool

I really enjoyed how the makers of this film didn't "John McClane" Neeson's character.  For those who don't understand the reference, John McClane (played by the great Bruce Willis) from the Die Hard movies started off as just a regular NYPD officer in the wrong place at the wrong time taking on terrorists with no shoes.  Fast forward to the most recent installment in the series (Live Free or Die Hard) and we see our "everyday man" launching cars into helicopters and battling Air Force jets with a tractor trailer....don't get me wrong though, the Die Hard movies are AWESOME!!!  They just got more unbelievable with each one.

"See that car killing the helicopter?  I did that.  Beat that Neeson."

With Taken 2, they just kept it simple.  His family is taken, he finds them and leaves a bloody trail of baddies in his wake.  That's it.  Lots of shooting, fighting, and Neeson walking around with a scowl in this film.  If you liked the first one, I see no reason why you wouldn't like this one.

My rating:

4.395802785 out of 5 stars


Good Luck

Jay