Taken 2

 

When Taken became a surprise box office hit back in 2008, no one was more surprised than me.  While I didn't find the movie bad necessarily, there just didn't seem to be anything special about it.  It was an over the top, ludicrous, and somewhat ordinary action thriller that only stood out because of Liam Neeson in the lead role, who was not known for action roles at the time.  A lot can happen in four years.  Now seeing Neeson pissed off and kicking butt is fairly routine, and Taken 2 has lost its novelty.  All that we're left with is stale leftovers of what made the original appealing to mass audiences.

Neeson is back as Bryan Mills, a tough-talking bodyguard who only wants to mend his relationship with his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and only daughter (Maggie Grace), if only those pesky Albanian terrorists would just leave him alone.  If you'll recall in the original movie, Bryan had to teach the bad guys a lesson after they kidnapped his daughter during an overseas vacation, and tried to force her into a sex slave operation.  He killed all of the people responsible by the end of that film, but he didn't count on the father of the man who kidnapped his daughter wanting revenge!  Yes, that's right, the father and other grieving relatives of the villains from the last time are the enemies this time around.  They track Bryan and his family down when they decide to go to Istanbul together on a family-mending vacation.  Because, you know, the last time they traveled overseas, things worked out so well for this family.

So, Bryan, his ex-wife, and their daughter have hardly begun to enjoy their holiday in Istanbul when the villains show up, trying to take them hostage.  Fortunately for our heroes, these Albanian terrorists are not exactly the brightest bulbs out there.  They manage to capture Bryan, and chain him up in a room.  Now, these guys know what our hero is capable of.  After all, the leader of the terrorists saw what he did to his son.  So, you'd think they would put extra heavy security around Bryan's cell, right?  Of course not!  They chain him up, then walk off so they can watch a soccer game on TV!  They leave Bryan completely alone, giving him ample time to not only get free, but to use a phone to get in contact with his daughter, and devise an insane scheme where she throws grenades off the roofs of building in the middle of public, so that Bryan can listen to the sounds of the explosions and figure out how far away she is from where he's being held captive.  So there's this young American woman running around the city, throwing grenades off of rooftops and into public areas.  And yet, no one seems to bat an eye, or call the police.  You'd think something like that would attract some attention, or maybe the media, at least.

Taken 2 is full of moments like this, where we're just supposed to shut our brains off, and accept what we're seeing up on the screen.  Sometimes I'm willing to give in, and just let the movie's silliness carry me.  This time, however, I found the power to resist.  I just could not get behind the silliness, I'm afraid.  There's another scene involving Bryan's daughter that pushes the limits of plausibility.  First of all, the daughter is played by Maggie Grace, who is 29 in real life, yet her character seems to be written as if she were 16 or so.  She is dating her first serious boyfriend, and is also learning how to drive, but has failed the driver's test three times.  Despite this, it does not stop her from suddenly driving like a professional Hollywood stunt driver when the need arises.  There's a high speed chase down the streets of Istanbul where she is able to outrun the thugs, dodge automatic weapon fire, leap the car to safety in front of a speeding train, and crash into the entrance of the U.S. Embassy without suffering a scratch.  Needless to say, after all this, the fact that the movie climaxes with her pulling off a perfect parallel parking job during the driver's test is anticlimactic to say the least.

When I reviewed the original Taken, I complemented its many action sequences, even saying that "the editing is fast-paced, but not choppy".  Not the case here, I'm afraid.  This is most likely due to the fact that the original director did not return.  Instead we have Olivier Megaton (Colombiana), who likes to shoot the action extra close, and use such rapid-fire edits, sometimes it seems like the camera is only focused on an image for a split second before it cuts to the next image.  There are some fight scenes that simply look like arms and legs flailing in front of the camera really fast.  After a lot of incomprehensible fight images, we then get to see the bad guy fall down, with Liam Neeson standing over them.  At least we get to see who won.  There's not a single ounce of dramatic tension in any of the action here.  It's bad enough that I didn't care about these characters to begin with, but their fight for survival made no impact whatsoever.

 

Taken 2 exists simply because the first one made more money than expected.  It also exists to rob the precious time of anyone who may have enjoyed the original.  Of course, the filmmakers have included a possible set up for a third movie, should this one surpass expectations and strike a chord with audiences.  We don't need a Taken 3.  Heck, we didn't even need this sequel.  But hey, sometimes you get what you pay for.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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