Father vs father in Taken 2

MANILA, Philippines -  Taken 2 braces for a down-to-the-wire action sequence between two fathers, one exacting revenge and the other trying to keep his family alive. Liam Neeson reprises his role as Bryan Mills, a CIA operative with an unmatched set of skills who is pitted against Murad (Rade Sherbedgia) who in turn is hell-bent on taking down Mills and the rest of his family for the death of his son in Bryan’s hands.

Taken 2 reunites Liam with his co-stars Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace, who play Bryan’s estranged wife and his precious daughter. “Bryan’s a total superhero,” says Janssen, weighing in on what made audiences connect with the first film. “Taken really came at a time when people needed that in their lives, because it’s about family and protecting your family. He’s a very American hero.”

As heard in Taken 2’s trailers, Murad’s line “He slaughtered our men, our brothers, our sons. We will find him. We will have our revenge,” sets the tone for his role as the movie’s lead villain. Rade takes on the role, which director Olivier Megaton promises “a far cry from your typical bad guy. Murad is pursuing Bryan for a big and very fair reason, which is that he wants his justice for his son, who died at Bryan’s hand.”

Unlike most movie villains, Murad desires neither power nor money, and he possesses no special training. “Murad is not a criminal by profession,” says Rade. “He is not a warrior. But he has made it his mission to extract justice from Bryan.”

Megaton looked at a number of actors for the role, and selected Rade after the actor sent some trial footage he shot himself. “While watching Rade’s footage, I was suddenly dropped into the reality of Murad’s situation,” the director enthuses. “And Rade adds so much to the movie, because he’s a father, too. Liam is a father protecting his daughter and Rade is a father avenging his son.”

Taken 2 is now showing in theaters nationwide.