I love me some Taken*. Liam Neeson’s performance changed our perception of him as an actor, and it’s informed the roles he’s taken since. His Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA agent on the warpath to kill everyone involved in his daughter’s kidnapping, was like an exposed nerve. It didn’t matter that the movie was without an ounce of plausibility – Mills didn’t negotiate or fuck around. If a bad guy didn’t have the answers ready in his head, Mills would promptly place bullets there instead.
Now there’s a sequel that I’m disappointed to say is not going to be released with my proposed title: Taken Too. Nevertheless, it’s good to see Bryan Mills snapping necks again – as evidenced in these EW stills:
SNAP.
CRACKLE.
POP, motherfucker.
I would have liked to see Neeson reunite with Pierre Morrel, director of the original. Mainly because I have an aversion towards French directors with made-up names (here’s looking at you, Pitof), so Transporter 3 director Oliver Megaton’s presence here gives me pause. The conceit this time around is that it’s Mills who gets taken (too, in retribution for his actions in the first film). But I can’t imagine we’ll have to wait long before he starts adding to his robust bodycount.
Taken 2 will unleash its particular set of skills in October of this year.
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*The theatrical cut looks like it was edited for TBS. Watch the unrated version to see the film as intended. Liam Neeson driving spikes into a man’s knee caps (before he tortures him) scratches my sadistic side of satisfaction.