“Secret-service agent Vic Davis (Ryan Phillippe) is on his way to pick up his estranged son, Shawn (Jack Griffo), from his college campus when he finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes terrorist operation. The daughter of a Supreme Court Justice is the target and this armed faction will stop at nothing to kidnap her. Vic quickly realizes that there’s no one coming to rescue them and must now use his entire set of skills to save her and his son from an incredibly dangerous and lethal situation.
Yes, we’re in Die Hard territory once again for The 2nd… even down to the seasonal setting. However unlike the myriad of Die Hard clones released these days, where our hero takes out a myriad of bad guys like some superhero killing machine, The 2nd returns to the “underdog” roots of the Bruce Willis starrer – with Ryan Phillipe’s character Vic, whilst a highly-decorated Green Beret, still fighting like a real soldier would: struggling against larger enemies, not being stupid and taking out the terrorists one at a time etc. It’s a grounded sense of reality in a film that is otherwise a flight of conspiratorial fantasy.
With an ending that hints (well, less hints and more slams the audience in the face) at a sequel, I’d love to see the adventures of Green Beret “everyman” Vic Davis continue further; and hopefully director Brian Skiba and [Eric Bromberg & Paul Taegel] decide to come back for more.”
p.j. taegel 