Taken 2: Bryan Mills is at it again

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The Albanians are out for blood in Taken 2 after Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) massacred their sons in the first movie. The opening shot is of a funeral where all the families of the boys Mills killed are mourning in the cemetery. Marud, the leader of the vengeance club and father of the son Mills tortured to death in the first movie, promises he will bring Mills to Albania and that he will not rest until his blood is running on the same ground they are all standing on. Yeah, good luck with that. Have you seen this guy?

Maggie Grace is back as Kim (Mills' daughter) and what is special in this movie is that she gets a few scenes where she turns into the bad ass.  This is a nice change from the first movie where she just waited until her father rescued her.

Liam Neeson had the usual great fighting scenes, but he was a little off. I think he gained weight and I also think that he was tired, as the character and the actor. I always keep thinking about his wife's death and how since her death he has been getting these draining, depressing roles, but he was still really into the character. Bryan Mills is still persistent and relentless. When his ex-wife tells him that he is like a dog with a bone he says, "the last thing you want to do with a dog with a bone is try to take it away from him" right before he tells her to get out of the car because they are being followed. Watch out Albanians!

Yet, does that not describe Bryan perfectly? He is so amazing because he is smart and very skilled but most of all he is relentless and ruthless when he has to be. In this movie I got to see that look in his eyes again, the one that says: "I got one objective and I will cut down anyone who gets in my way" and the fact that he turns into this relentless, ruthless monster out of love? well that is just the Oreo on top of the already delicious chocolate cake.

Do I want them to make Taken 3? It depends. I would not mind seeing Bryan Mills' days as an actual CIA operative back in the day, kicking ass legal style. I would not like to see more people he loves being kidnapped because, how stupid can a person be?

Still,  I love the character because he has the right combination of intelligence, skills and motivation. He is unparalleled in the way he can switch from loving father to ruthless killer in less than a second and I am a sucker for father-daughter relationship as well as a sucker for...well...killers. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on whether the producers want to go the Final Destination route or not (Please GOD, no) , the ending of the movie definitely predicts a third film.

Mills asks Marud, "If I kill you, will your sons come looking for me" and Marud says, "They will" to which Mills replies, "Then I will kill them too" and all the while I'm smirking and thinking; when will they ever learn?

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