Courtesy of wearemoviegeeks.com
Directed By: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace
What It’s About: Retired CIA Agent Brian Mills must once again protect his family when an Albanian terrorist group vowes revenge on him for his actions in Paris, France several years prior.
MPAA Rating PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality)
Runtime: 91 minutes
By Desmond Ho, Staff Writer
When I first heard about the existence of a Taken 2, I figured that it’d just be a rehash of the first one. I was a bit surprised, after watching it, that it’s not quite that. It doesn’t feel like a breath of fresh air or anything, but it’s not exactly the same as the first one, as some suspected it would be. That said, it still doesn’t reach the height of the original film.
Taken told the story of Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), a retired CIA operative who had to find his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) in a city of 12 million people and save her from human traffickers. He used an impressive set of skills to do so, and it was really entertaining to watch. My biggest issue with Taken 2 is that it just isn’t as exciting as the first one. Mills too often ends up solving issues by shooting them, which alone doesn’t make for an exciting action movie. Still, there are some rather cool fight scenes, and the action is shot well enough.
Courtesy of www.aceshowbiz.com
The plot is similar to the first one in that it involves the kidnapping of a character and Bryan Mills has to save her. There isn’t as much tension as there was in Taken; in that film, he had to find his daughter in one of the largest cities in the world. She could have been anywhere, yet he still found her. In Taken 2, the scope is much smaller. The villains are a defined group of people seeking revenge on Mills (for the destruction he left in the first film) whereas in Taken, he was up against the entire human trafficking business in Paris. However, he still has to use his aforementioned ex-CIA skills to get his ex-wife back. That’s not to say that there is no sense of danger in the film; there are some good scenes that are full of tension.
There’s not much else to say about the rest of the film. It has a likable lead and a fairly likable supporting cast, but the villains aren’t nearly as threatening as the ones in the first film. The acting is perfectly fine, and Liam Neeson is still convincing as a man who will go to any lengths to protect his family.
Overall, the film is not as good as Taken, but is still a competent action movie and an adequate conclusion to the series. It may be worth a rental if you’re a fan of Taken and decent action movies, but Taken 2 is fairly passable for everyone else.
6/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpaT8NzkLgE