It’s a fairly universal truth that a sequel is never better than the original, and unfortunately Taken 2 does little to disprove this fact. The vague semblance of a plot line picks off where Taken finished, with ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) trying to piece together his family after the trauma of his daughter’s kidnapping in the previous film. The movie failingly attempts to distract from its lack of substance by producing high budget action scenes in the flashy location of Istanbul, where Mills is holidaying with said daughter and ex-wife. You or me could have written the script; the kidnapping gangsters from the previous film return seeking revenge and as per usual the hero wins, baddies fail, it’s all rather cathartic, we end the movie on a chirpy high note.
The film is constructed by a jumble of car chases, fist fights and shoot offs that put little effort into even trying to appear vaguely realistic, pathetically attempting to string together a weak plot line that doesn’t retain the element of surprise as the original. The ‘baddies’ in the movie are your standard Eastern European stereotypes: the only characterization they received were images of their local mafia running round the ambiguous dusty back roads of Albania.
Really, the films only saving grace is Liam Neeson, every girl’s ultimate older guy crush, who looks as sexy as ever running around in leathers beating up gangsters. This one little nugget of redemption was ruined for me however, for upon returning home and googling Neeson for a little bit of cheeky celeb crush stalking I discovered he was actually sixty! Feeling slightly sickened with myself, I mentally shelved Taken 2 next to Twilight and Not Another Teen Movie (sorry fans…) on the backbench of no hoper films, never to be resurrected again.
While Taken 2 is merely another bad over-budgeted blockbuster that will end up in the £2.99 bin at Wilkinsons, behind the make-believe is a shocking truth that is relatively neglected by the media. Slavery; a practice that we tend to associate with some far away and forgotten past that causes us to carry a vague and blurry feeling of national guilt. We only really think about it when it crops up in BBC period dramas, showing that standard image of African Americans tending to sugar cane crops, right? Unfortunately modern day slavery does persist and is only on the increase. While many consider human trafficking to be an alien phenomenon that only occurs in poor ‘backward’ areas such as Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, the threat is a lot closer to home than we think.
The BBC and The Guardian recently published articles claiming that human trafficking within the UK is on the rise, especially in relation to child exploitation. According to the latest government estimates, the figure of identified victims within the UK has risen from 710 in 2010 to 946 in 2011. The shocking effect of these figures reveals how the nature of human trafficking is riddled with public misconceptions, for victims of human trafficking aren’t necessarily immigrants or from across international borders. As quoted by the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) ‘around half of all referred victims of trafficking in the UK … are either UK nationals or have a legal right to be in the UK’. A common misconception is that trafficking has to occur across borders but people can be trafficked within their own country, such as within Britain. Our capital is crawling with brothels and exploited labour. It has been estimated that since the introduction of the Olympics, hundreds of manual workers have been trafficked into London, and the number of prostitutes in East London has skyrocketed.
I managed to catch up with Ali Gillum, a second year Geography student who is currently PA to Julia Immonen, who works with The A21 Campaign (a charity which is seeking to abolishing injustice in the 21st Century). The A21 Campaign originated in Australia, but has since expanded across the globe. Their safe houses located in Greece, Bulgaria and Ukraine directly help those who are rescued victims of human trafficking. There are an estimated 27 million victims of human trafficking and the number is on the increase, for Ali was describing to me how illegal traders find more financial investment in buying and selling people, as drugs are a finite commodity and people don’t have as short a shelf life.
As part of her work with A21, Ali is helping to organise ‘Cycle for Freedom’, – a big cycling adventure happening next Autumn; 2700km in 27days for the 27million trapped in slavery. The journey from Sofia, Bulgaria, through Europe to London, aims to fundraise and spread awareness. A21’s website details twenty-one ways that anybody can become involved, but the most effective way of fundraising is to do something you love doing, for Julia Immonen that was sport and led to her rowing the Atlantic (she led Row For Freedom last December), but fundraising can take any form. Ali explained ‘its easy to get disheartened about the situation, and while it is horrendous it is important to use what you love doing to help bring freedom to others’. She explained how when working for a charitable cause it is important to harness that positive energy and apply it ‘not in a patronizing, but an empowering way’. It can be so easy to become dragged down in guilt and negativity, but in order to actually tackle the issues, positive action needs to be taken. If you want to find out more information on human trafficking don’t just watch Taken 2 and feel depressed, look up the charities that are out there challenging the problem by following the links that are detailed below.
http://www.thea21campaign.org/
http://www.sophiehayesfoundation.org/
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/
Photo Credits: anglicanswomensempowerment.org, neurope.eu, whatculture.com