…At least I’m pretty sure that was the title.
No, on closer inspection, it was Taken 2, starring Liam “Badass” Neeson:
We just got back to Costa Rica early this morning. We took the only direct flight from Denver to San José, which is a Frontier flight that leaves at midnight and arrives at about 6:00 am. It’s faster than a layover, but I’m pretty wiped out now. Especially since I spent the first two hours of the flight watching a movie on Frontier’s free Direct TV, when I should probably have been sleeping. But oh well.
The movie was pretty good, I guess, especially considering that it was free and I was watching it through a 5-inch screen mounted in the back of an airplane seat. If you’ve seen Taken or Unknown, though, it’s not nearly as good as those.
You see, these days, what Liam Neeson does best is beating the crap out of Eurotrash who try to mess with him or his family. That’s what he did in the original Taken, and it’s also what he did in this one. There are some twists, but on the whole it’s basically a rehash of the first movie, and it’s not nearly as interesting or fun the second time around. Plus, it’s got Rade Sherbedgia (see picture) who is a great villain, but then again, it seems like he’s every villain –and sometimes also a good guy– in almost any movie that calls for a vaguely Eastern European guy with a beard. In this case, his recognizable face actually works against him, since you don’t think, “Oh man, an evil terrorist has Liam Neeson!” but rather, “Hey, it’s that guy from Snatch!” and then you start thinking of his roles in other movies.
Anyhow, that’s about all I have to say about this movie. It’s title and its very concept is in the passive voice (“You will be taken”), so as a result, I find it hard to actively endorse this movie. But if it’s showing for free on a plane, you have my blessing to passively watch it over a cup of tomato juice or ginger ale.
Never seen Taken One. Shall I?
Shall you? Or should you? I’d say yes, you shald. It’s pretty awesome.
Liam Neeson beating the crap out of Eurotrash is always entertaining but i think we can all see the how it’s going to end in the first Taken.
Mike! Good to see you here. I love the login name!
Yeah, nice to have you on board, Mike. Your name’s cool, too. Interesting tid-bit about your name (kinda): According to Angela, people in Costa Rica thought that R2D2 was called “Arturito,” like little Arturo/Arthur.
She didn’t mention what they called C3PO, though.