By Nadine Cavanough, staff reporter
Yet again, Liam Neeson delivers in Taken 2, playing both the rescuer and the hostage. Neeson displays heroic valor when the families of his victims in the previous movie try to extract their revenge when Neeson and his own family go on vacation. Fast-paced and packed with action, fans of the first Taken will not be disappointed with this aspect.
“…It was full of action, with it’s shooting and fighting, which I always like,” junior Brais Sampedro said.
The only downfall with the latest Taken was that the plot may have been thought out better. Similar to the redundant plots of The Hangover series, the story was slightly less original, sticking to the same concept that the first movie did. It would have been nice to see there be a different plot twist in the movie, but considering the nature of the film, there aren’t very many places the story can go, without abstaining too much from the first one.
Although, Neeson’s combination of charisma and intimidation keep him as one of America’s favorite bad-asses, playing the role of an ex-CIA agent, his acting wasn’t enough to fill out some of the holes in Taken 2.
“I thought it [the movie] was really good, but the first one was better… It had more action, and this move followed the same plotline, it was predictable,” junior Rita Cinquemani said.
Regardless, the Taken franchise isn’t bad, and is sure to see more sequels. Taken 2 leaves off with Neeson saving his family from the people who kidnapped them (and killing every one of them in the process) but, it seems that there is enough room to build on the franchise and still redeem its name.
According to the Salon website, Neeson says, jokingly, “How many times can she be taken?… I mean, it’s bad parenthood, really, after that.” He does illustrate a good point here. Where else can the producers take the story, after having taken all the family Neeson has?
Regardless, considering the success of the first two movies, viewers can most likely expect a third one to come out shortly, building onto, and perhaps concluding, the Taken franchise.
