Escape to the Movies: Taken 2

[Rect Pola]

Concerning the "oh good, another one" bit:

Spidy looked kind of grumpy in that pic. So maybe Sony is capturing another time honored tradtion of comics: using the next episode to "fix" the crap that didn't work in the last one (extra points if its nonsense needs a third movie to fix). So I suspect a damaging failure on his part that will make him moody and depressed, until he realizes he's been fated to get shit done, so he ups his game reined in and retooled (including personality) into a curiously less divisive Spider-man portrayal.

 

[Stabby Joe]

The novelty of the first was film for me at least was just Liam Neeson playing an action role and I enjoyed it, as basic and silly it was. The trailer for the second seemed like a series of shout outs like the badass line at the end and of course name dropping the title in the dialogue. Since I live close to my local cinema there is still a chance I'll see this one but it's not my priority.

 

[sinsfire]

Ok, didn't see taken 1 don't plan on seeing this one..

Johnny Depp is going to play a Native American??? also of note, Helena Bohnama Carter will also be playing a Native American (shouldn't someone be offended by now) and the whole thing is being directed by Pirates of the Caribean director/destroyer Gore Virbinski...


WTF

 

[Mkvenner]

That was an awesome intro. It made my day

 

[Tiamattt]

Funny thing for me about Taken was I too didn't care about it at all when it come out, but by random chance I saw it at a friends house a few months back. It wasn't a terrible movie by any means, but the speech was the only memorable part of the film and that was spammed through TV ads. After watching it the first thought in my head was: man I'm glad I didn't pay to see this in theaters.

I suspect Taken 2 will be around the same quality: fine to watch for free on TV but not worth actually paying for.

 

[Strain42]

So...are they gonna call the sequel The Amazing Spiderman 2, or are they just gonna drop The Amazing part and we're just gonna have another movie called Spiderman 2? (of course it can't live up to the awesome that was Raimi's Spiderman 2)

I'm also curious as to what villain they're going to use. Assuming they don't re-use any of the Raimi villains (Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Hobgoblin, Sandman, Venom...am I forgetting anyone?) and I doubt they're gonna revive the idea of Bruce Campbell being Mysterio like they were gonna do in Raimi's Spiderman 4 (god, how awesome would that have been?)

Who do we have left? My knowledge of Spiderman villains is slightly lacking, but I feel like all we have left are the other animal based villains

The Rhino, the Vulture, the Gibbon, etc. etc.

...though to be honest, I would LOVE to see The Vulture. The idea of snarky hipster spiderman fighting a frail 80 year old man in a vulture costume would probably get me to go see it...

The reason why I've spent this entire post talking about Spiderman is because...well...I don't really care about Taken 2 (I thought the first one was alright) and I was never into the Lone Ranger enough for that image to bother me sooo...spiderman is about all I've got to talk about.

 

[Krantos]

Yeah, I loved Taken.

But when I heard there was a Taken 2, my only reaction was... "Why?"

Movie didn't need a sequel and any made was guarenteed to be contrived.

 

[maninahat]

Everything I needed to know about this movie occurred at 3:09. The slowmo protagonist strut with the birds flying behind him is never a good sign.

Or the greatest sign ever. Now all we need is him jumping sideways with a gun in each hand.

It's a shame that Bob doesn't find this as good as the first Taken. Shame. Of course, by good, I mean enjoyable in a kind of goofy, 80s ironic kind of way. I'll wait till a rental then.

 

[karloss01]

why does Johnny Depp's character look like Captain Jack Sparrow without a hat and his face painted?

 

[Nouw]

spidey-snip

Aren't all spider-man villains animal based?

 

[Aureliano]

I actually didn't like Taken (the original) very much, and solely went to this one on Ebert's assurances that it was good and the fact that Luc Besson was involved.

Honestly? Way more fun for me than the original. The daughter finally grew some stones, Famke Jannsen played a more central role, and I happen to think that in spite of the horrific things that the dead henchmen did in the first one it still makes sense that somebody might seek revenge. They old man's actions are not as justified as Liam Neeson's, sure, but it's still reasonable that he wants revenge anyway. Family is family.

The fights also ooze a little less 'old guys can still be RELEVANT [fist hitting meat sound]' than Taken, which I take as a net plus.

 

[RJ 17]

Gotta say great intro, Bob.

Never saw the first one...personally I thought that one looked stupid and to be quite honest, the trailers for it really started to irritate me. When I heard they were making a sequel to it, I facepalmed so hard I nearly crushed my face in.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It's a shame really, I was planning to go see Taken 2. Might just wait for the DVD, maybe.

 

[lostlevel]

I really didn't read in to Taken that much, I saw it simply as an excuse to have Liam Neeson fighting round the world. It's unlikely but its an action movie. If it's any consolation when interviewed on the Graham Norton Show about it a while ago he said he thought Taken would be a straight to DVD movie and he only did it for the holiday in France. So I suppose this one is to have a holiday in Istanbul. I might watch it but I think I'm going to watch Looper instead.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Now that their main motivation is revenge because they lost family, you're reminded that these were actually flesh and blood people, with mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and maybe even children of their own, and you start to feel slightly guilty for getting pleasure out of watching their demise.

Sorry what? I'm supposed to feel sorry for a family of sex slavers because they have wives and children? Fuck that noise. Anyone over the age of 18 and in the family business is fair game.

Ah yes, the 'their lives are completely forfeit because they're the "BAD GUYS!" mindset. No, that's sociopathic in the slightest...

What can I say, human trafficking irritates me. That being said, calling me sociopathic is a bit much. Such an attitude certainly doesn't fit the definition, as my stance does not lack empathy at all. It is merely empathetic to the victims of the piece, rather than the villains.




I will point out however that the idea behind the bad guys in Taken 2 is that current Arab tribal structure makes the Hatfields and McCoys look like mild-mannered businessmen.

Which is odd because aside from the buyer at the end, most of the villains were Albanian (unless they're Islamic by conversion or something). It does make sense for reprisals though, you can't kill a guy that buys women for a half million casually without stirring the hornet's nest a bit. Just a shame it seems like they wasted the potential idea.