1. Farewell To Violence
Taken is popular because you can feel every punch than Neeson's former-CIA operative swings at his enemies. Every lethal move he unleashes upon those unsuspecting baddies looks extremely painful - and it was edited that way intentionally. The violence was ramped up, almost crossing the line into pulp territory, and that's precisely the reason the film has assured its massive following. There's barely a drop of the ol' red liquid in
Taken 2, and certain sequences don't even make sense because they've had the blood drained out of them. I'm not saying that we're hungry for scenes of excessive violence, but... well, actually, we
are. Of course we are. That's why everybody went to see this sequel, isn't it? Like with the original, we'll have to wait for the DVD release with that inevitable "ramped-up" 18 rating - and all the violence put back in - to see what this movie
really looks like. It's just a shame that audiences will have to pay again to see a movie the way it should've been the first time around. What gives, Luc Besson? You used to be cool.