TAKEN 2
Directed by: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
Reviewed by: Stephanie Wong
[Rating: 3.5/5]
As a fan of Liam Neeson and action films, I jumped at the chance to see the hyped sequel to the box office hit Taken. As an action movie, it didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of car chases, vengeance-seeking thugs, fistfights and kidnappings for ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills to use his “very particular set of skills”. The only lacking element in this formula is a dose of originality, something writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen failed to embed. Although still managing to deliver some suspense and a sense of urgency that almost matches the first film, the script was mediocre at best, with overused lines that seemed to make a self-parody of themselves, “Kim, your mother and I are going to be…taken”. Luckily, Neeson has perfected the combination of soft-spoken, overprotective father to resourceful über-action man to be able to mutter such lines with a sense of indignation.
Whereas Taken colorfully exhibited the wonders of Paris, Taken 2 transports you to the bustling streets of the culturally abundant city of Istanbul. The revenge-thirsty Albanians led by head henchman Murad Krasniqi congregate in the city on a rampage to avenge his son and family when Mills takes a job up in the Turkish land and brings along his family for a little downtime vacation. It only takes a matter of minutes for Mills and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) to be “taken” and the adrenaline rush thrills to start as Mills starts utilizing his long acquired skillset to take on his kidnappers. The action climaxes with a clever stage set whereby Mills is able to identify his location with the help of daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) using only a map, a shoelace and grenades whose detonations set off a series of echoes that allow him to confirm his whereabouts. And of course, no action thriller is complete without a manic car chase, this one has a little added side humor to it for in the hot seat is Mills’ unlicensed daughter who has already failed her drivers test a grand total of four times. When asked for advice on what to do when you see a police car on the road, Mills gives what any self respecting parent with a bunch of machine gun clad gangsters hot on your heels would say: “Just keep going, I already shot one policeman!”.
Although the movie provides some seat-clenching suspense, Taken 2 disappoints as a milder version of its predecessor. The plausibility of the fights is questionable at best; one head snap, a punch to the gut and an uppercut to the chest and bam, Krasniqi’s henchmen die off like swatted flies. It was almost unsettling to watch the ultimate fistfight showdown, held in a Turkish bath nonetheless, whereby Neeson’s character is able to take down Krasniqi’s last standing gangster as if he wasn’t a 60-year-old man with multiple bruises, broken bones and knife wounds. However, Liam Neeson’s charismatic reprisal as Bryan Mills is worth a watch and probably what makes the movie not tip in the direction of another cheesy action film. So if you’re sick of all the romantic comedies out there, Taken 2 is a viable alternative.
