Taken 2

Liam Neeson returns to kick butt and take names as ex-CIA agent Brian Mills in this sequel to the popular action flick. This time around the family members of the Albanian sex-traffickers who kidnapped Brian's daughter in the first film are dead set on revenge for their fallen comrades. An opportunity for revenge arises when they follow Brian, his ex-wife Lenore and their daughter Kim to Istanbul. There they kidnap Brian and Lenore, leaving Kim to figure out a way to help her parents out of this predicament.

Part of me was excited that there was a sequel when I first heard the news, but as I watched advertisements for Taken 2, I started hating the fact that it was happening. The story is the EXACT same as the original, except this time Brian himself is captured. I absolutely loved the first one, but the sequel is an extremely unnecessary, boring piece of junk. The first Taken felt like a sincere action flick that explored the possible dangers of traveling abroad and also the evil of the sex trade. This time around it was molded into a stereotypical revenge action flick, and a poorly made one at that. I admittedly was still entertained by the action sequences until one specific point in the movie lost me: (MINOR SPOILER WARNING) at one point Brian Mills meets one of the Albanian kidnappers face-to-face and engages him in hand-to-hand combat. It was a pretty cool sequence until the very end when the Albanian man is dying; Brian just puts his hand on the man's face, squeezes then shoves him into the wall...and the guy dies. Just like that. That part was completely unbelievable. I wish I could recommend Taken 2, I really wanted to like it, but it ended up just being another stereotypical revenge flick that's not worth your time or money.

Total Recall

In this updated version of the Arnold Schwarzenneger film from the 1980's Colin Ferrell fills Arnold's shoes as Douglas Quaid, a factory worker who builds robot security guards known as synths. Up until recently he's been pretty content with his life as a factory worker; he loves his job and his wife who is a security force officer for the United Federation of Britain. Earlier in the 21st century the Earth had been devasted by chemical warfare; as a result the majority of the population that is left is split between the United Federation of Britain and a smaller settlement on what used to be Australia known as The Colony. Douglas Quaid goes inbetween these two areas to get to and from work. Recently Quaid has been having strange dreams of being chased by the very machines he helps to build, and then meeting a mysterious woman, only to be separated from her at the end of his dreams. He talks to his wife about the dreams and she suggests that it might be because he feels trapped in their marriage and ultimately his life. He's unconvinced so he (unbeknownst to his wife and close friends) visits a place called Total Rekall. There he is told that he can have the time of his life by being infused with a drug that will allow him to fulfill his wildest dreams. He cautiously goes through with it, but right as he is about to enter the dream world Total Rekall is ambushed by the robotic security force and he must run for his life. What follows is a pursuit of the truth as Quaid tries to separate reality from fiction.

Total Recall is a very unnecessary remake of the '80's classic. I like Colin Ferrell but he fails to completely fill Arnold's shoes as Douglas Quaid. The original isn't much better; it's more of a campy action flick while this updated version tries (and fails miserably) to be serious. I found myself laughing uncontrollably at some of the stupid jokes and situations within Totall Recall. You're better off staying at home and seeing the original version.