Taken 2 Reviews

The surviving members of the Albanian gang who kidnapped Bryan Mills' daughter swear revenge and hunt him down in Istanbul. Despite its simplistic plot and generic nature, Taken was the epitome of the guilty pleasure mainly because of some taut, energetic direction and the highly charismatic performance by Liam Neeson. This lazy sequel is typical of a Hollywood cash-in in that it takes the formula of the first film and makes a sterile, cynical and imagination-free carbon copy that seems to forget to include everything that made the original film work. It's a lot easier to excuse free range brutality when its victims are vile rapists and slave traders so when Neeson guns down a room full of unarmed middle-aged men who are just watching the football, sympathy is a little harder to come by. The action is just as frenetic but lacks the nail biting momentum of the original, the car chase in particular resembling a psychotic WRC rally as Neeson barks orders at his quivering daughter who seems to suddenly develop the driving skills of Jason Bourne despite the fact that earlier in the film we are informed that she's unable to even pass her test. Although adequately executed, Taken 2 is just a morally dubious, soulless exercise in making a fast buck that soon reveals itself to be more tedious than exciting.

The makers have taken cinematic liberty beyond the acceptable level. Defiance of logic isn't unusual for fictions, all the more for action flicks. But here its execution is extremely silly & it's not easy to overlook the goofs herein. Dialogues & performances are also disappointing. Except for action, the movie doesn't score well in any department. Unlike Taken, this one fails to entertain. Might have enjoyed it in the Die Hard days.........

Taken 2 wasn't as strong as the first film. It's not often the second film outshines the first so my expectations weren't too high, but it was still a pretty good runner up.There is still plenty of action. I enjoyed the car chase. I thought the mom was kinda of whinny and useless. Buck up bitch. Get mean and at least try to fight back. Besides that and the unnecessary Luke Grimes, it was a pretty good action flick.

Everything that made the first one a top-notch guilty pleasure is completely absent. Liam Neeson does the best he can but even he cannot save this cheap cash-in that is inferior to its predecessor in every regard. Director Olivier Megaton (Colombiana) shows complete incompetence in staging the action and fight scenes. At times it looks like Neeson is playing patty-cake with the goons and the films "big" car chase is sloppily edited to the point that it induces laughter rather than on-the-edge-of-your-seat tension. At times it felt like I was watching a straight-to-video Steven Segal flick; it is that level of cheapness and poor-quality filmmaking. The plot is a generic and stupider clone of the first film while the bad guys are some of the most incompetent and least threatening I have ever seen. Hopefully this will be the last film to ever bare the "Taken" name. Stick with the original.

The original "Taken" was a classic example of a guilty pleasure film, that somehow ceased to be guilty because so many people found pleasure in it. "Taken 2", with its incomprehensible action sequences and a script possibly dumber than the first, will be far more of a guilty pleasure, as it never reaches the hilarious heights of the first one's Neeson rampage.

Even so, the main reason the first one was such a success was that we got to see Neeson kill everyone while playing it completely straight, and that's still present here. There's even an interesting inversion of the first film's premise at one point. "Taken 2" is stupider than the first film, but luckily for this series, being stupid is one of its advantages.

This one gets a bad rep. Not nearly as bad as it's made out to be.

4 stars!!

02/03/2013 (Online)

"Taken 2" is a manifestation of Hollywood's money-grabbing attitude, and is lazy, predictable, and under developed. The acting is whatever, but the action is well-choreographed and entertaining. If you want to turn your brain off for 92 minutes and enjoy some action, this is a good watch. Grade: C-

its surprising me that Liam Nelson who kidnapped. but the 1st movie much better than this. btw, I like the ending.

Olivier Megaton's Taken 2 is everything as expected, which is both a good and bad thing.The minute 90 story plays out like any action thriller should. There is the initial buildup before all heck breaks loose. As a whole, there is very little in the way of surprises, which contributes to a lower suspense level. The plot details aren't that great either; however, they are more than adequate enough to warrant another Bryan Mills rescue mission.The action is a plenty, although the PG-13 rating keeps the blood and gore in check. There isn't much in the way of creative violence, but the body count somewhat makes up for this.Watching Liam Neeson go to work is an amusement. Maggie Grace gets a chance to shine both in and out of the pool. The rest of the cast is just along for the ride.Taken 2 does have its flaws, but its strengths make up for it. Check it out.

Taken 2 is largely the same as the original. It's highly implausible plot and action sequences providing moderate escapist entertainment, but without the freshness and some of the ingenuity (I use that term lightly) of the original, it is not as strong. Liam Neeson is still game and delivers a fun performance, but this one just isn't as compelling as the original was for me. The action sequences feature too many quick edits at some points and it is hard to tell what is going on, something that wasn't as true about the original film. The plot is also almost a complete rehash of the original, although Liam gets taken this time with the family. I can enjoy these movies on a purely brainless level, but beyond that it is hard to get behind a film like this. I recommended the original because I thought it was fun and suspenseful. If you enjoyed the original I can probably recommend this to you, but if you didn't then stay far away from Taken 2.

Taken 2, the sequel to Liam Neeson's action revenge thriller Taken is a mediocre follow-up to the fun and entertaining first entry. The film tends to be a lacking in terms of good action and in turn is pretty predictable in how everything will turn out. This is a flawed film. The first film had its weaknesses, but it was entertaining and thrilling. This sequel is simply lazy in terms of creating a good sequel, and it ends up being a poor one at that. Acting wise, there are no standout performances, and Taken 2 ends up feeling like a recycled film that lacks originality. There has been far better Liam Neeson film out there, and this one could have been much better, however, it simply doesn't cut it and it fails in being an entertaining film from start to finish. As it stands, Taken 2 is forgettable and it definitely needed a couple of rewrites to make it a good action film. What made the first film fun and entertaining was Neeson's cold intensity in his performance, but in this one, he's laughable at best. This film is disappointing and lacks anything worth mentioning. Taken 2 is simply put a mediocre sequel to a good film that doesn't deliver and leaves the viewer wanting more out of their film going experience. If you want a good action film, you won't find it here. This is definitely one of the weaker films in recent years that stars Liam Neeson, and in my opinion, Taken didn't need a sequel, it was fine as a standalone film. If you enjoyed the first film, and are expecting something good with this entry, you'll be sadly disappointed. This is among the worst films of 2012, and considering that Taken was a good action revenge film, you'd expect the filmmakers to really craft something worthwhile in terms of a sequel, but that's not the case here. This picture is a perfect example on how not to create a sequel, as it uses recycled ideas for its plot that make for a predictable viewing experience that is not worth your time.

First they took his daughter. Now they're coming for him.

Good Movie! The movie is not over-coated with the action sugar with loud music and explosions everywhere. It has a great deal of thought, suspense, and a share of original technique and even dialogue, just like the original. Istanbul provides some good locations, both intriguing scenery and gloomy scenery which can also help in taking the movie seriously. Sure, it has it's flaws, and the camera-work is sometimes choppy, but the point is, if you thoroughly enjoyed the first Taken, you should see this one too.

Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent, stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim from Albanian kidnappers. The father of one of the kidnappers has sworn revenge and takes Bryan and his wife hostage during their family vacation in Istanbul. Bryan enlists his daughter to help them escape.

Not very good and a massive let down after the first movie. Yes we all knew what to expect, we just didn't expect it to be done so poorly. This film offers nothing. If you want a good movie in this genre then try The Man From Nowhere.

For what it's worth, it's not a particularly good film, but t's not THAT bad either. It retreads pretty much the same territory as the original, and for a film that already wasn't original to begin with, that is not saying much. "Taken 2" follows the families of the victims of the first film, seeking vengeance against Bryan's (Liam Neeson) family. He and his wife are taken and he then gives his specific set of skills to his daughter, training her over the phone. It is a pretty intense sequences, but the action is not quite as good, the writing is foamed in, and the editing it's pretty convoluted and kinetic, sometimes working and sometimes not. This film succeeds for what it's worth, which is not much. I pretty much call this a cash grab that works. Fun time, but kind of lifeless!

How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice? get a new line of work maybe. Neeson is back and he's badder than before, well not really but he still kicks ass at his ripe old age and he hasn't forgotten his black leather coat either.

Follow up to the very good original and your first thoughts are is this really needed?. The first film was a kind of slick 'Ronin' kick ass machine but can you really do the same again without it being a rehash? well yes and no.

Its a nice idea that we see the aftermath of what the hero did in the last film. He kills all the bad guys and saves the day, but what about those baddie henchmen he bagged? what about their families and friends? no one really wonders how they would feel and its not been explored too much. So this plot about one particular bad guys family (father) wanting revenge on Neeson's character is kinda neat but also kinda stretched. If you think about it the concept could just go on and on, every bad guy killed having one of their family members coming after the hero for revenge.

There are quite a few silly moments in this film I must admit. For a start Neeson's character works out where he is pretty quickly after he's been kidnapped. So before you know it he's contacted his daughter with his trusty batphone thingy hidden in his sock (of course) and well on the way to be rescued, job done, film over then.

The sequence where he instructs his daughter to throw grenades left right n centre so he can listen for the explosion and calculate where he is, is also rather daft. Surely live grenades going off in downtown Istanbul might raise some alerts? wouldn't anyone hear this? if 'Mills' can hear it in his dank prison surely other folk at street level can hear it no?.

That also leads to the fact that when 'Mills' is kidnapped it appears that he and his wife are driven quite a long distance away, possibly out of the city. We then learn through the grenade throwing sequence that he is in fact not very far away a tall, almost around the corner actually haha. His daughter can virtually see where he's been taken from the rooftop for gods sake lol!.

Then there is the car chase which again is very 'Ronin' like in style and visuals. Now this chase is actually very good and very well done, I enjoyed it a lot, kudos. Thing is, 'Mills' daughter can't drive, we know this from earlier in the film. Americans tend to drive automatic cars, the Merc they both escape in is a manual, but somehow this doesn't stop 'Mills' daughter managing to drive this Euro manual like a rally driver through the narrow bustling streets of Istanbul hehe.

Oh and 'Mills' manages to find his wife pretty quickly and easily towards the end too, just a stroll in the park, blip! your dead. Unfortunately we also discover that the main bad guy 'Murad' has two sons who will come after 'Mills' if he is killed, so I guess that's 'Taken 3' then.

Despite all the silly bits and the fact the whole plot is weak and not really important, I did actually enjoy this film quite a bit. The visuals are glossy with good editing, sound and camera work, score does the trick nicely and of course the acting isn't too shabby either. I have read a lot of negative reviews for this film but I can't see why really. Sure its not as good or original as the first film but you get what you pay for.

Neeson bitch slapping balding unshaven Eastern European bad guys, a slamming car chase and all created with smooth eye popping French (yes French!) va va voom.

Review coming soon.

Another exhilerating first-rate action classic. An excellent film. It`s better than the original, and continues to thrill you even more with this film. Writers-Producer, Luc Besson strikes gold once again with his writing partner, Robert Mark Kamen, deliving back into the world of Taken making it just as much a character driven and it is action driven and giving it alot of heart and soul. Besson is the king of stylistic action movies, giving us solid stories with great heroes and villains to go head to head. Director, Oliver Megaton crafts his best film yet, crafting a well-done sequel that has alot of the same elements but added with more edge and bringing in a twist on the revenge story. A stylish, hard-edged, and explosive action-packed thriller. A gripping, riveting and adrenaline-pumping edge of your seat action ride. A spectacular and pulse-pounding movie that delivers sensational chases, dazzling action sequences and powerhouse performances. Liam Neeson is back and better than ever as Bryan Mills. Neeson gives a tremendous performance, he brings back that cold intensity and embracing heart that made us route for his character in the first film. Whether is drama or action films, Liam Neeson is a force to be reckoned with. This film has a particular set of skills, skills that make it worth watching and delivers big. It`s a powerful, intense, thrilling, fast and furiously entertaining. I loved this movie.

Similar format to the first movie. The family of the men he killed in the first movie are after him and his family for revenge. Good action movie.