In early 2009, Taken became a sleeper hit in the United States. Directed by Pierre Morel, the film essentially reformed Liam Neeson's career from a dramatic actor to an action star almost instantaneously. Neeson himself stated that he didn't think it would be much of a hit at all, and would likely end up as a straight-to-video product in the United States (each of the three films have been produced in France). Audiences were very enthusiastic about this simple revenge story, although critics were a bit more lukewarm at the time. Naturally this kind of success would lead to a sequel in January of 2012, simply titled Taken 2 and directed by Olivier Megaton, with diminishing returns and a negative critical response. Still, the audiences showed up and, keeping in tradition with the release dates of the previous entries in the series, Taken 3 was released in January of 2015 to universal derision from critics, but still solid box office receipts. This is said to be the last installment in the revenge series, as the poster indicates "It Ends Here," and it's probably a good thing for that to be true.
It's hard to believe that the Mission: Impossible movie series has gone on for nearly 20 years now, with the first film being released in 1996 and directed by Brian De Palma. Unlike many other stars in the action genre who have struggled to maintain their box office glory over the years (Arnold Schwarzenegger being the prime example of this), Tom Cruise, now 53 years old, shows no signs of slowing down as an action star. With each new entry in this series Cruise has willingly put his own life at risk in order to entertain audiences, and his dedication is evident within the first 10 minutes of this film's opening. It's been well publicized on advertisements all over television and the internet, but it's worth mentioning again here that, yes, Tom Cruise does indeed hang off the side of an Airbus A400M cargo plane, at full speed, as it ascends up to 5,000 feet above the ground (and no, there's no stunt double). It's a genuinely thrilling and impressive opening sequence that rivals the best of those in the Bond series, and further proves how dedicated (or insane) Tom Cruise is to pleasing audiences. As a result, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is among the best action movies so far this year, second only to Mad Max: Fury Road.
