On DVD and Blu Ray - "Taken 2" (2012) - Those who enjoyed the simplistic, no nonsense approach utilized so well in the first installment will find themselves wholly displeased with this thoroughly uninspired sequel- it looks like the first film, yet trips itself up with ridiculous contrivance and some of the softest death-blows I've ever seen in a serious-minded actioner.
A seemingly tired Liam Neeson returns to pick up a paycheck as ex-CIA operative turned bodyguard, "Brian Mills". This time our hero ends up fighting off a group of bad guys intent on exacting revenge for the deaths of the undesirables in the first film. Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace return as our hero's ex-wife and daughter, respectively- how they all end up in Istanbul, exactly when and where our villains need them to be for there plans to unfold, is one hell of a bit of happenstance that reeks of extremely lazy writing. Strange because once-upon-a-time action genre master Luc Besson (also the producer of both films) and screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen, who co-wrote the first film, return to churn out this mess. It's as if both men weren't quite sure how and why 2008's Taken worked so well.
I place most of the blame on Director Olivier Megaton, the hack who's given us Colombiana and The Transporter 3. There's shootouts, explosions, a car chase and several hand-to-hand fight scenes- yet there isn't an ounce of tension or emotion involved whatsoever. Megaton simply shouldn't be Directing action films- then again, Besson hired him for the job...
Skip it.
4.0 outta 10
Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Luke Grimes and Rade Serbedzija
Runtime: 92 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality
FWIW-
Taken (2008) - 8.0
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