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Taken 2

Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace
Directed by: Olivier Megaton
Screenplay by: Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen

    A few days ago, Liam Neeson was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Stewart told Neeson that he thought his character in Taken 2 was being a bit reckless with his family because they are targeted again for kidnapping by the same people as in Taken (2008).
    In the first film, Bryan Mills's (Liam Neeson) daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), is kidnapped while on a trip in Paris.  This time, the family is in Istanbul and the people who kidnapped Kim are out to kidnap Bryan.  But Bryan and Lenore (Bryan's ex-wife (Famke Janssen)) are the ones who are kidnapped and now it is up to Kim to rescue them both.
     In a way, this film is a little different from the first film.  But I would think that after the first film, taking a family vacation in Europe wouldn't be a necessarily smart thing to do for this family.  In that case, I have to agree with Jon Stewart's argument that the characters in this film are a little reckless with their safety.
     The story line is virtually the same here.  This is one of those series that didn't need a sequel at all.  It would have been just fine without it.  It's like The Hangover series.  They're two movies that are almost carbon copies of each other.  You could see either movie without seeing the other.  I walked out of the theater thinking that I had just seen the same thing as in the first film.  When studios do this, it turns exciting films into very boring action movies that seem almost empty in terms of the value they offer the audience.
     The good news about the film is that while it might be the same movie as the first one, it's made in the same way.  It's kind of a boring concept that is made very well and very well put together.  Liam Neeson is a terrific actor, delivering a very formidable performance playing the same kind of role we are used to seeing him play; the guy who you don't want to mess with because if you do, he'll kick your ass and make you wish you'd never met him.  The film is very well directed and no pattern is left unexplained and no plot holes exist.
      Overall, this is a decent film.  It's definitely not going to be Oscar worthy, but if you're bored one night and are looking for a good movie to see, this is the film for you.  You can just sit back and eat lots of popcorn during the film because no thinking is involved.  You won't have to wonder what's going to happen next, especially if you've seen the first film.  You'll probably just want to know why this family is so reckless with their safety.
       I give Taken 2 a C+.

Comments

  1. Dan O.October 8, 2012 at 5:02 AM

    It’s a very, very stupid and idiotic movie, but it’s also a bunch of fun especially if you love seeing Neeson in his top, action-like form once again. Good review Matthew.

    ReplyDelete

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