Taken 2

Taken 2 - Dir. Olivier Megaton (2012)

The original Taken was the surprise hit of 2008, pulling in over $226 million off a meager budget of $25 million. The film reeled in mainstream audiences through their primal anxieties of xenophobia and white girl peril, then unleashed righteous fury in the form of Liam Neeson. As former CIA agent, Bryan Mills, the Irish-born thespian cut a path of brutal vengeance on the ring of human traffickers that took his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).

It's understandable that Bryan would have a hard time letting go, especially when Kim blows off driving lessons to be with her boyfriend (Luke Grimes). These aren't evasive driving maneuvers, just plain old driving lessons because Kim doesn't have a license yet. Never mind that Maggie Grace is almost 30 and too old to be playing naïve high schooler. In any event, Bryan gets a security gig in Istanbul for a wealthy potentate when ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and Kim pay him a surprise visit. Unbeknownst to them, Albanian gangsters, led by Murad (Rade Serbedzija) are en route to seek revenge for the deaths of their brothers and sons from the first film.

The screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen is either brilliantly stripped down or lazily slapped together. There's a slight twist on the basic concept with the parents being taken and Bryan making the ominous call to Kim, who must locate the bad guys' hideout. In the silliest sequence of Taken 2, Kim runs around the rooftops of Istanbul lobbing live grenades so her dad can use the sound of explosions to triangulate his position. You'd think an American blowing shit up would raise a few red flags. At one point, Bryan casually guns down a crooked police officer. Sure, he may have been dirty, but murdering a cop still has dire consequences. However, Taken 2 isn't concerned with logic. There's no time for that nonsense when there are unwashed scumbags with funny accents to kill.

From there, the sequel descends into a non-stop stream of indiscernible action. Besson protégé Olivier Megaton turns every fight scene and shootout into a series of abstract images thanks to an overuse of shaky cam and choppy editing. Megaton also directed Transporter 3, the worst of the series, and Colombiana, which is just as ridiculous, yet far more entertaining. Car chases (those driving lessons from the opening are going to come up again, right?) are unremarkably rendered with Bryan shouting such encouragements as, "Move it, Kim" and "You can do it." Speaking of driving, someone in the Besson camp must have just seen Drive because Taken 2 lifts almost directly from the Nicolas Winding Refn film. Kim listens to College's "Real Hero" on her iPhone while Chromatics' "Tick of the Clock" is used for a tense scene in which Kim waits for her father in a getaway car.

Taken 2 fits the bill of easily digestible popcorn entertainment. Perfect for anyone who wants to watch Qui-Gon Jinn fight Boris the Blade.

Rating: ** (*****)

Lockout

Lockout - Dirs. James Mather & Stephen St. Leger (2012)

Luc Besson is an action impresario. The French filmmaker once directed two highly acclaimed action pics in La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Since then, he's produced a whole slew of shoot-em-ups like The Transporter, Taken, and Colombiana. Lockout is the latest thrill ride churned out by the Luc Besson factory.

Lockout can best be described as Escape from New York in outer space. It is the year 2079 and the most dangerous criminals are incarcerated in MS One, a maximum security prison orbiting the planet. The inmates are also kept in suspended animation. Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), the daughter of President Warnock (Peter Hudson), comes on board to assess any effects the stasis process may have on the prisoners' minds. The one convict they decide to revive and interview happens to be Hydell (Joseph Gilgun), the most dangerous and psychotic one aboard. He quickly releases all the other inmates who proceed to systemically kill the majority of the prison's staff. The President is forced to turn to the one man who can save his daughter, a man so badass he needs only one name. That man is Snow (Guy Pearce), a former CIA agent arrested by the Secret Service and accused of murdering one of their agents. Snow reluctantly agrees to mount a rescue, partly to reach a comrade on MS One, who possesses evidence that may exonerate him.

Lockout is straight B-grade material. Co-directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, who penned the script with Besson, have the same cookie cutter visual style as other Besson disciples like Louis Leterrier, Pierre Morel, and Olivier Megaton. The special effects aren't anything to crow about with a freeway chase being particularly laughable due to video game graphics. Other similarly ridiculous sequences include an agent shooting himself in the head to save oxygen for Emilie followed by Snow injecting her through the eye with a stimulant. Eat your heart out Pulp Fiction. The story and the action are unapologetically derivative. In addition to John Carpenter's cult classic, Lockout rips off Die Hard with Snow pulling a John McClane as he crawls around the station's air ducts while bemoaning his fate. There's even a Star Wars sequence as attack ships stage an assault on the penitentiary.

Maggie Grace once again assumes the role of damsel in distress and the always hammy Peter Stormare is great as the Service's slightly sinister chief. But, the whole movie hinges on Guy Pearce's performance as the prototypical action hero armed with only his wits and a bevy of corny one-liners. He won't win an Oscar, but he is a helluva lot of fun.

So bad, it's good is the best way to describe Lockout, a film whose sheer awfulness is highly entertaining. Don't demand too much from Lockout; just check your brain at the door.

Rating: ** (*****)

Faster

Faster - Dir. George Tillman Jr. (2010)

Faster marks the welcome return of Dwayne Johnson to the action genre after a string of family friendly films like Race to Witch Mountain and Tooth Fairy. Faster is a throwback to the gritty movies of the 70's as evidenced by a taciturn protagonist painted in shades of gray and his vintage muscle car. Johnson has admitted to studying Clint Eastwood to portray the hero who lets his gun do all the talking for him.

Faster opens with Johnson being released from prison after serving ten years. Once out, he jogs to a nearby junkyard where he finds a 1970 Chevy Chevelle stashed under a tarp. A revolver is waiting for him in the glove compartment along with a list of targets. Johnson stomps into an office building and shoots a telemarketer right in the head. It is only then that Johnson is identified as simply Driver.

As it turns out the telemarketer deserved to die for something other than just being a telemarketer (Courtney Gains). Driver and his brother (Matt Gerald) were part of a bank robbing crew that was ambushed by another gang. The brother was murdered and Driver was shot in the head. Miraculously, he survived and embarks on a path of vengeance against the men who killed his beloved brother. The telemarketer was just the first on the list. As for the others, some have seemingly reformed while others are just as nasty as ever.

Faster is a simple enough premise. It's a lean, mean revenge movie with Johnson looking so jacked; you would think he was making a return to the wrestling ring. Tillman directs with a clean hand without ever drowning the action in overly stylish visuals. If only the script by Tony & Joe Gayton (who penned the underrated The Salton Sea) had followed suit. The story splits its focus from the Driver and towards a pair of antagonists that stand in the way of his mission. Billy Bob Thornton plays Cop, a burnt out detective just ten days away from retirement. He juggles his hunt for the Driver with a heroin addiction and an estranged wife (Moon Bloodgood). Cop's relationship with his insecure, overweight son recalls Thornton's darkly comic turn in Bad Santa. Cop is partnered with Det. Cicero (Carla Gugino) who is barely tolerant of his slovenly manner.

On the other side of the law is Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a hitman with a British accent and a colorful backstory. It's gleaned that Killer has shaped his mind and body to perfection. A thrillseeker and former software wunderkind who has turned his fortunes to the art of murder for hire. He lives in an ultramodern mansion with his girlfriend, Lily (Maggie Grace), who shares his love of assault weapons. Killer stalks his prey while conversing with his therapist on his Bluetooth headset. He's a wild, out-of-left-field character that feels like he's been dropped in from a completely different film. Just as you're getting into the Driver's ass-kicking quest, Faster takes you on a detour into the personal lives of Cop and Killer. This three-pronged assault doesn't allot the screen time that the lead character deserves.

Despite a lack of focus, Faster is a passable actioner, one content to play with the archetypes of the genre rather than reinvent them. It's a slower paced, less stylish affair compared to The Rundown, but it's a damn sight better than the atrocious Doom.

Rating: ** (*****)

Knight and Day

Knight and Day - Dir. James Mangold (2010)


I’ve made it known that I am able to set aside an actor’s or filmmaker’s personal life in order to enjoy their work. Despite his general craziness in real life, I’ve enjoyed a lot of Tom Cruise’s output over the last few years such as the Mission: Impossible franchise and Minority Report, one of the best films of the past decade. And who can forget his profanity-laced performance in Tropic Thunder? Cruise is an actor who enjoys working in big-budget, Hollywood pictures. However, you can’t help but feel that his couch jumping antics have dulled his star power.

Cruise attempts to play up his action hero persona in Knight and Day alongside his Vanilla Sky co-star, Cameron Diaz. Diaz is June Havens who runs an auto body shop in Boston and is flying out of Wichita after picking up some parts. She bumps into Roy Miller (Cruise) at the airport and winds up on a plane full of assassins. Miller dispatches the passengers, crew, and even the pilots before landing the plane in a cornfield.

As with all spy movies, there’s a MacGuffin at the center of it all. In this case, it is a perpetual energy battery (AA-sized) code-named the Zephyr. Miller claims to be a CIA agent who was double-crossed by his partner Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) who hopes to sell the battery to a Spanish arms dealer (Jordi Molla). The CIA claim Miller has gone completely off his rocker and cannot discern from reality and delusion. Shanghaied on a globe-trotting adventure, June finds herself falling for Miller while questioning the truth about him.

Knight and Day certainly had potential to be something different. I didn’t expect Cruise to poke fun of his personal life, but he doesn’t attempt to ridicule his on-screen persona either. He simply coasts by on the same jittery charm he’s always had. The film doesn’t attempt to lampoon the familiar tropes of the spy thriller. Instead, it simply revels in them, employing cliché after cliché.

The latest entry in this year’s rash of action/romantic comedy hybrids, Knight and Day kicks off with the rom-com staple of the meet cute before bouncing back and forth from genres. Compared to similar movies like The Bounty Hunter and Killers, Knight and Day does action bigger and better. Credit goes to director James Mangold whose diverse filmography includes Kate & Leopold, Walk the Line, and 3:10 To Yuma. Mangold keeps the film from really dragging even if the action sequences come off as lightweight Jason Bourne. Once the action subsides, we’re left with comedy and drama that fall flat. The banter feels contrived and the plot lacks any element of mystery. As if Tom Cruise could be anything other than the hero.

Cruise’s character may be defined, but they can’t seem to make up their mind about Diaz. One moment she’s a spastic mess shrieking in fear, the next she goes into John Woo mode while straddling Cruise as they rip down the streets of Barcelona on a motorcycle.

Though first-timer Patrick O’Neill is the only credited writer, the script was passed through the hands of nearly a dozen other writers, including Mangold himself. Knight and Day is the kind of utterly conventional picture that comes from filmmaking by committee. Dull, toothless, and forgettable.

Rating: *

Taken

Taken - Dir. Pierre Morel (2008)


” I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

If Liam Neeson says he’ll find you and kill you, you’d best believe it. Here, he plays Bryan Mills an ex-government operative though it’s never revealed exactly what he did. Mills is now divorced, his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), has since remarried a much wealthier man. Lenore and daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), convince overprotective dad to allow her to take a summer trip to Paris with a friend. Mills reluctantly agrees with the caveat that she calls him everyday and keeps him constantly updated. Mom blasts her former hubby about smothering their precious little girl. Of course, dad’s worries are proven correct when Kim is abducted by human traffickers. As you can tell from the above quote, dad doesn’t take this lying down.

Taken comes from Luc Besson, director of La Femme Nikita, The Professional, and The Fifth Element. Besson has spent the last several years as a writer/producer on action flicks like the Transporter series. With Taken, he re-teams with Transporter co-writer, Robert Mark Kamen and director Pierre Morel who helmed another Besson project, District B-13. If you’ve seen any of those pictures, then you’ve got a good idea of what to expect from Taken with a light influence from the Bourne franchise. In fact, you could easily see Neeson’s Bryan Mills as what might have happened to an older Jason Bourne. Mills gets into plenty of shootouts, fist fights, and car chases throughout Europe while using a little ingenuity to get out of tough scrapes. He’s a stone cold, hardass too. When interrogating one bad guy, Mills doesn’t shoot him to get answers; he shoots the guy’s wife.

Taken is a rather predictable and clichéd affair, but it’s a fun action film. If the idea of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn dispatching criminals right and left appeals to you, then you’ll probably be taken by Taken.

Rating: ***