Do you remember the 80s and 90s? Lower budget action films reigned supreme. It didn’t take much more than a butt-kicking hero with a purpose and a gun to get audiences’ attention.

I think about Walking Tall, Road House, Rambo and other entries that truly just let the fists fly.

While The 2nd is no classic, the low-budget B-movie actioner does harken back to the good old days, and that’s part of its charm.

The always-watchable Ryan Phillipe stars as a former Green Beret who goes into hero mode when his son’s friend is the target of a kidnapping at a university residence.

His trip to pick up his son from school turns into a fight for their lives when the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice becomes that target of an abduction in order to force him to vote a certain way on a Second Amendment bill.

Phillipe is interesting and engaging in the lead, and it’s nice to see Casper Van Dien — of Starship Troopers fame — in a villain role.

Director Brian Skiba creates a taut genre film, and while it doesn’t break any new ground, it’s a great time.