Taken 2 (2012)
Certified: 14
Duration: 91 minutes
Directed by: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Šerbedžija, Leland Orser, Luke Grimes
KRS release
There are sequels that rise up to the occasion and manage to equal the originals and at the same time deliver a fresh new take. This was the case with the likes of Aliens (1986), The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Dark Knight (2008) among others.
Taken 2 does not fall into this category. Under Oliver Megaton’s direction, Taken 2 is simply a rehash of the first film, with the only problem being that, whereas the first film was an unexpected injection of cinematic kinetic energy and celluloid escapist entertainment, the sequel is simply re-treading the first film without the energy.
The adrenaline rush is simply not present at all. Liam Neeson is all over the place throwing all the right moves but it simply does not feel right. There no longer is that same sense of urgency.
Also, let’s face it, the first film simply pandered to its audience wanting to see Neeson kick the butt out of those who had taken his daughter and were going to sell her into a white slavery ring. In this case the theme is more generic as it is about revenge and this never seems to touch the same deep raw emotional buttons.
Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, retired CIA agent who works as a private security consultant. In the first film he had scourged France while looking for his kidnapped daughter and left a pile high of human residue in his wake.
The relations of those who had kidnapped Kim (Maggie Grace) want revenge and so the past comes back to clash with Bryan. The plan is set forward by an Albanian mob lord Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija) who pounces on the fact that Bryan and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), now separated again, have arrived in Istanbul together along with Kim.
For Bryan life will be turned upside down as he and Lenore end up kidnapped. Meanwhile, his daughter Kim tries to help them. Bryan must use all his CIA skills and expertise to turn the tables on his captors and keep his family safe.
Neeson does his best as the super ex-CIA agent. The first film had been preposterously fun. This second outing is preposterously silly. I simply could not get around seeing how the screenwriters manage to give Bryan a sort of “spider-sense” where he knows all movements and whereabouts in Istanbul even though he is blindfolded and tied up. The man is like a human GPS.
Then there is also the fact that suddenly his daughter is turned into a super driver tearing up the streets of Istanbul as if it was Grand Theft Auto time and I am not going to mention the rooftop running sequence and the throwing of all those grenades.
Taken 2 really lays it on thick in its scriptwriting and it rarely comes out smelling like roses as, unlike the original, it lacks the single-minded focus that is necessary to an all-action movie.
At no point do we ever feel that Bryan has met his match or is in any real danger. I so wanted to love this film as the first film was one of my favourites of 2008. Even the action, as depicted in this picture is tamer and feels more gimmicky.
The twist here is that this time round it is Bryan who gets “taken” but, after a while, this premise soon loses all interest as all I wanted to see was Neeson taking names.
But he is laid low by the blunt editing that is on display which takes away the first film’s main asset: its sense of visceral energy.