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Taken 2 starring Liam Neeson & Maggie Grace: Doesn’t Kick Ass As Much as Taken

Posted on March 28, 2013 Written by ripitup

taken2-2012-movie-poster — Taken 2 starring Liam Neeson, Famke Jenssen & Maggie Grace. Image via tophollywoodmovies.com

If you haven’t seen Taken, I suggest seeing it first. It will probably make you appreciate Taken 2 less, but it is the reason of the second movie was made and the third is probably in the works. Because, even though Taken 2 is not as cool or impressive as Taken, I am not ready to stop watching Liam Neeson kicking ass around Europe saving someone he cares about.

Oh, and I might be dropping Taken spoilers.

That said, let’s roll:

Our favorite badass ex-CIA Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) is now closer with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), though he is worried about how she is coping (or if she is being careful enough) after he saved her from a human trafficking gang (and killed everyone who was responsible) in France.

Unfortunately , the father of one of those men is incredibly pissed and wants justice. And he gets the perfect opportunity when Brian travels to Istanbul for a private security job and his daughter and ex-wife (Famke Jenssen) visit him.

This time, they manage to take her, and Brian. But of course Kim tries to be daddy’s daughter, and with her help, Brian starts kicking ass again.

Taken > Taken 2

It pretty much sums it up. Taken is bigger, better, cooler. Brian kicks more ass, and kicks it better in Taken. As much as there are probably things that defy rationale in the first film, I don’t remember noticing because I was too busy getting caught in the action.

This is not to say that Taken 2 isn’t entertaining. It is. But because it is more over-the-top in many ways that is less cool and often less logical, you notice the flaws. You notice how stupid the criminals are.

And then there is the over-stereotyping of Istanbul that doesn’t go unnoticed by anyone who has been there. Granted, France wasn’t shown in the best light in Taken, but again, we were too “taken” by the film to realize or care.

That said, if you liked the first one, you should at least try to give the second one a shot. I belong to the club that really enjoys Liam Neeson kicking ass all around Europe. I loved Taken and I loved Unknown. Taken 2 is alright, and yes, I’ll see the third one if they make it.

But I’d say: Taken> Unknown> Taken 2

Also on Liam Neeson:

Unknown starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn

The A-Team starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley & Quinton Rampage Jackson

Chloe starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried

Seraphim Falls starring Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Battleship starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker & Alexander Skarsgard

Famke janssen:

City of Industry starring Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff and Timothy Hutton

Maggie grace

Lockout starring Guy Pearce & Maggie Grace

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks: Emotional, Captivating, Entertaining

Posted on December 16, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks Featuring Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson.

The Next Three Days movie poster via slingomom.com.

The Plot

College teacher John (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) are happily married with a young son, Luke. But life as they know it is over when Lara gets convicted of murdering her boss. All evidence points towards her, but John doesn’t doubt her innocence for a second.

But despite John’s efforts, he can’t change her 20+ years sentence. Devastated, she attempts suicide.

At that moment John realizes that it’s up to him to save his wife, and it’ll only be possible through a meticulous prison escape plan. With the fundamental tips from the former convict-turned-novelist Damon (Liam Neeson), he starts devising his plan. He has a million obstacles…and not nearly enough resources. But he sets his plan into motion, and no one can change his mind. Including his wife.

The Next Three Days: How to Kidnap Someone from Prison 101

And I’m not saying it as a bad thing. It made some great moments to see an ordinary guy trying to come up with the perfect plan. A guy who doesn’t have a criminal gene in his system is ready to deal with shady characters, rob criminals, lie his butt off and muster an enormous amount of guts so that he doesn’t lose his wife.

Most prison escapes in movies are usually conducted by experienced and/or violent criminals, maybe with the help of their criminal buddies. The 2009 movie Public Enemies (starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale) has some great jail break scenes, for instance. But again, the escapes are planned by the mastermind robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp).

And movies featuring prison escape usually focus a lot on the hunt. But the beauty and the fun of The Next Three Days is that it spends sufficient time on how it becomes the last resort, and how the crime is planned by a nice guy. Intelligent and determined, yes. Aggressive, violent, criminally experienced? No.

But with the aid of 21^st century resources and his mind, we follow him through his research and action. His failures and his success. As he gets his ass kicked and as he turns badass, all the while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for his son.

1/3 of Guy fighting the system, 1/3 Guy Hatching a Plan, 1/3 Actual Escape and Action

It’s a drama for the most part, but the depressing parts are balanced by hope and love. It’s also balanced by John’s sense of humor (in the beginning), his self-teaching to be a jail-breaker and the last, very exciting part.

It’s easy for an action movie to become a bit tedious after putting one action scene in front of the other. But here all the drama builds up the suspense so by the time the plan is in motion, you are sitting, fingers crossed, highly anticipating. Sure, it could blow up in his face. But you sincerely hope he doesn’t.

So it is a remake. So what?

If the plot sounded familiar, it is probably because it is a remake of the 2008 French film Pour Elle starring Vincent Lindon and Diane Kruger. I haven’t seen the original so I can’t compare similarities and quality. But will be seeing it soon.

But The Next Three Days holds its own. Russell Crowe is perfect, Elizabeth Banks is good albeit overshadowed. Olivia Wilde is the perfect red herring. I mean why throw a single woman that gorgeous in front of the dad who’s so devoted to his wife? But even with her small screen time, she is crucial to the plot. And while Liam Neeson is practically in one scene, he is one of the most important characters, and he does fit the part perfectly. We buy it when he kicks ass internationally, and we buy it when he is a jail break expert.

Much more drama than action, but worth it.

I really liked it. Currently rated at 7.3 on IMDB. Adapted and directed by Paul Haggis. And don’t roll eyes at the “romance” label on its IMDB page. John has to be one of the most romantic, dedicated and loving husband the screen has ever seen. So yeah, there is a very strong love at the center of the film too.

One of my favorite Crowe movies and performances.

Fun cast note: Olivia Wilde also worked with Elizabeth Banks in the movie People Like Us (2012) , starring Chris Pine.

Also on Russell Crowe:

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Also on Elizabeth Banks:

Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns & Jamie Bell

Battleship starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker & Alexander Skarsgard

Posted on August 10, 2012 Written by ripitup

Battleship movie poster - Battleship starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker & Alexander Skarsgard — Battleship starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna & Alexander Skarsgard. Also featuring Hamish Linklater & Peter MacNicol. Image via iceposter.com

Battleship Premise

Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is a 26-year-old guy with pretty much no ambition, to the annoyance of his older brother Stone (Alexander Skarsgård), who already has a prestigious rank in the navy. And when the broke Alex gets further into trouble trying to impress the gorgeous Samantha (Brooklyn Decker), Stone decides that Alex will join the navy and follow in his footsteps.

And while Alex is smart and talented, he keeps getting into trouble. It doesn’t help matters that his latest spectacle might end his career, and lose the chance to get accepted by his girlfriend Samantha’s father, Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson.)

But when aliens, responding to the signals sent to them a couple of years ago, arrive and start sinking ships, Alex will have no choice to grow up, fuel his energy in the right direction and try save not only Hawaii or America, but the rest of the world as well. The problem is, the aliens are far better- equipped and ready to destroy while Alex will have to do with lesser weapons, few men and the loss of people. It doesn’t help that they are shielded from the rest of the world so none can enter or exit the war zone.

So will Alex be able to pull it off without getting killed, losing more men and seeing the world fall to pieces?

Worth Watching?

Battleship is a fun action movie with really good effects. At 131 minutes, it could have been a little shorter. Especially right after the navy faces the presence of the alien ships/spacecrafts, the anticipation and reaction scenes are shot a bit too slowly for my liking.

But despite a couple of slow moments, the movie is quite entertaining whether you knew about the game it was based on or not. The beginning provides good comic relief as well a nice contrast to the man Alex is about to become.

I really like the supporting characters as well, especially the geeky, good-natured and perceptive scientist Cal Zapata (Hamish Linklater) who has to provide more balls than he ever had to in his life because scientists around him were too stupid to listen.

Brooklyn Decker also serves more than eye candy. In addition to being the admiral’s daughter, she is a physical therapist who finds herself right in the middle of the hot zone, thanks to her patient and gets some good ideas on her own to help the situation. And being the daughter of an admiral who is played by Liam Neeson, we don’t find it illogical that she doesn’t chicken out.

The aliens are also thankfully not green! Being from a planet with similar conditions to ours, they have some similar features so that’s a nice change.

All in all, despite being predictable in many parts, it still engages the audience in the war between humans and the aliens- which for the long part is mostly a war between Alex’s crew and the aliens.

Alex and crew got smarter and better with time, and the movie got better as time passed by. I had a good time, and started admiring the director even more. The movie is directed by actor/director Peter Berg, who I first saw as a guest actor on Alias, where he played Noah Hicks, Sydney’s (Jennifer Garner) old field-partner/ex-flame. He has acted in many good projects (e.g. Lions for Lambs), and directed quite a few. But he has definitely done a good job with the massive budget.

My complaint? Liam Neeson could have had more screen time, and kicked some alien butt, though he did say the coolest line in the movie.

Favorite line:

(Admiral Shane to the Secretary of Defense (Peter MacNicol)–angry that the secretary is barking orders despite the loss of men)

Shane: You want to send a plane? I’ll do it the second you come up here and put your ass on the co-pilot seat, sir!!

Highlights:

– The effects.

– The actors.

– The soundtrack. It’s all rock ‘n’ roll and I like it. They even played Thunderstruck from AC/DC.

– The latest strategy (ship) they use and how they use it.

– The one-liners and funny comments, as well as, humane reactions from several characters. and not just the lead.

– Battle putting the egos in check and turning them into a solid alliance.

– The setting: This has to be the alien movie with the best landscape ever! It is in Hawaii!.

Final Verdict:

See it. But of course if I have to make a list of recent expensive movies, this would be my order:

-The Dark Knight / The Avengers

– The Amazing Spider-Man

– Battleship.

Currently rated at 6.1 on IMDB. My vote: a solid 7.

Unknown starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn

Posted on June 26, 2011 Written by ripitup

Unknown Movie Poster- starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn — Unknown starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn. Image via movienewz.com

American botanist Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) travels to Berlin with his wife (January Jones) for an important summit. When they arrive at their hotel, he realizes that he has forgotten his briefcase at the airport, so he jumps on another cab to go back, while his wife is left to check in. On his way to the airport, the cab gets into an accident, and the cab crashes down into the river. The cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) manages to save Martin- who is unconscious due to bumping his head hard, and disappears from the scene when the paramedics arrive.

Martin wakes up 4 days later in a Berlin. He remembers who he is, and rushes out to the hotel to meet his wife. But he is shocked when his wife doesn’t have a clue who he is. Moreover, there is another guy (Aidan Quinn), claiming to be her husband. And she is agreeing with the other Martin. With his passport left in the briefcase he couldn’t get to, he has no means of proving who he is. Moreover, the other Martin has all kinds of IDs with his pictures, as well as his face on the website. This sends Martin into doubting who he is…until men start coming after him and kill whoever gets in their way. Martin enlists the help of the unwilling Gina, and the old German ex-spy (Bruno Ganz) to help him prove he is the real Martin Harris. While Gina and Martin try to survive assassins, the spy does his best to prove Martin right. And just when he gets some proof, things get even more complicated….

Why would anyone want to replace him? Why would his wife work with them? Can Liam’s Martin and Diane Kruger’s Gina survive long enough to learn the whole story?

Unknown is an incredibly entertaining action/mystery with touches of drama. Watchers of the Bourne series and Liam Neeson’s Taken complain that Unknown is not an original movie. Never mind that the screenplay which was based on the novel by a French writer who might not even have seen Bourne movies, it is 2011. Millions of scripts were written. And I don’t really think Bourne movies were all %100 original when they came out. I mean come on. What you can do as a writer is to take an idea, and tell it in your own unique way. And Unknown is refreshing in the way that the man who has a head trauma remembers who he is, but his wife refuses it. I quite like how they explained this. And there is no point in getting upset if you guessed the twist. It doesn’t mean the movie is bad. It just means you watch many movies:D But this is not a horror film where the twist is the whole point. It is how we get to the twist, and what happens after it that really matter.

As to why this movie is being compared to Taken, Neeson is once again playing an American who kicks butt in a foreign country. But in Taken, he was an ex-CIA agent, forced to travel to France to save his daughter from her kidnappers. Here, Liam Neeson is more trying to save his butt than trying to kick others’. And apart from the American getting involved in action on foreign soil, the two movies vary a lot in story.

Yes, I enjoyed the movie. Frankly, I was so in love with Taken that I was looking forward to Liam being in another action film. And while I found the Unknown trailer unimpressive, the movie doesn’t fail to entertain.

And “the potential plot holes” can be explained very easily. And as to the complaints on how January Jones and Diane Kruger are too young for Neeson, come on! Never mind that Zeta Jones married Michael Douglas in real life, being 6 years younger than January and 8 than Kruger, I have to confess I really think Liam Neeson got more attractive when he got older. Plus, a 25 year-old kicking butt is not that interesting. And we know guys can become action stars in their 40s. And an actor kicking butt at 59 is just way more fun.

Fun notes:

– Diane Kruger’s character Gina is an illegal Bosnian alien in Germany. In real life, she is actually German.

– American Martin Harris – Liam Neeson- is actually Irish.

Other Posts feat. Liam Nesson

The A-Team starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley & Quinton Rampage Jackson

Chloe starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried

Seraphim Falls starring Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Other Posts feat. Diane Kruger

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg feat. Kruger

Fringe Trivia: 13 Facts About Fringe Cast, Crew, Plot Feat. Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, Mark Valley…

Wicker Park starring Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Josh Hartnett