When Taken made Liam Neeson a bankable action star at the prime age of 56, it not only reinvigorated the geriaction genre, but also sparked a new trend of action films that I’m going to dub “dad action.” All these films revolve around dads who can kick ass, but who are trying to leave their ass-kicking lives behind to care for their daughters. But circumstances place their daughters in danger, and the dads must return to their badass ways to save her. In the end, the father-daughter bond is strengthened, if not restored. It all makes me want to be a dad. I can’t wait to become disconnected with my kids, only to connect with them again thanks to violence. If that’s not what fatherhood is like, I’ll be very disappointed. Here are five dad action movies we have thanks to Taken.
1. Stolen (2012)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpMxOjUjweA&w=560&h=315]Stolen is what happens when you watch Taken, do some really awful cocaine, and write your own Taken. So of course you get Nicolas Cage to star in it and Con Air director Simon West at the helm to realize the insanity to its fullest. What I didn’t expect was that Josh Lucas would give everyone else a run for their money in the insanity department. As the villain, he has a wooden peg leg, dresses like a cracked-out Kurt Cobain, and matches Cage blow for blow in scenery chewing. The final fight between Cage and Lucas is absolutely over the top, a fitting end for this mad spin on the Taken formula.
2. Erased (2012)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywehbum3gs&w=560&h=315]This is probably the worst of these films. They’re all stupid on some level, but Erased is the only one that isn’t enjoyably stupid. Aaron Eckhardt and his daughter have just moved to Belgium for his work, only for him to show up one day to find his entire identity has been erased. To Eckhart’s credit, he engages with the material, and gives it all he has. The film just doesn’t give him anything remotely interesting to work with. With this and I, Frankenstein, Eckhart has had an unsuccessful run at action films. It’s a shame, because I feel he has a good dad action film in him. But after two strikes, it’s unlikely he’ll get another swing.
3. 3 Days to Kill (2014)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yswZKfnmf7c&w=560&h=315]You’ve gotta feel a little bad for Kevin Costner. He was just trying to follow a box office fad, but this film failed at the box office. He plays a dying CIA agent trying to reconnect with his daughter and ex-wife. And then he’s offered an experimental drug that could save him, but only if he’ll take one last, dangerous mission. The film plays to Costner’s strengths as an all-American farmboy – one scene finds him intimidating his daughter’s boyfriend by calling American football “real football.” Unfortunately, audiences didn’t bite at the endeavor. Kevin Costner is living proof that you don’t pick dad action — dad action picks you.
4. The Chaperone (2011)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFe1AYaYxs&w=560&h=315]In case you didn’t know, WWE has a film studio, and they used it to put out a dad action film starring Triple H. One night, a friend and I found it on Netflix and watched it immediately. We had to know what it was like. Triple H plays an ex-con hiding from the gang he ratted on by chaperoning his daughter’s field trip. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and actors like Kevin Corrigan and Kevin Rankin show up for some paychecks. The whole endeavor feels cheap, but if you’re a glutton for this kind of cheapness like I am, then you’ll have an enjoyable time.
5. Rage (2014)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVgxje9I-B0&w=560&h=315]Nic Cage once again appears, this time as a former criminal hunting down those who have kidnapped his daughter. Cage has some great unhinged moments, the kind that only he can excel at – “Just how deep do you want this to go?” “How deep is hell?” Cage has made several B-and-C-grade action films over the past decade, but his dad action efforts are definitely the most entertaining among them. I’m starting to think that he may be the unsung king of the genre.
