TAKEN 2: The Film Babble Blog Review

TAKEN 2 (Dir. Olivier Megaton, 2012) 

I saw the original TAKEN (2008) for the first time last week, and I found it to be an entertaining yet typical formulaic thriller. It was like a Jason Statham movie, in which an indestructible badass takes out waves of attacking thugs on a quest to track down somebody or something, except that it has Liam Neeson in the Statham role.

In TAKEN, Neeson, as a highly-trained killing machine of a former CIA agent and an obsessively overprotective father, dealt with the kidnapping of his daughter (Maggie Grace) in Paris, France. In TAKEN 2, opening today in the Triangle at a multiplex near you, Neeson and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen reprising her role from the first one) are abducted on a trip in Istanbul, and it’s up to the daughter (Grace also returning) to save them. 

Or rather, assist her father to save the whole family via implausible cell phone instructions, and questionable directions to throw grenades at particular points.

The evil mastermind behind the kidnapping is Rade Šerbedžija, previously a Soviet villain on the popular Fox show 24, plays an Albanian Mafia Chief who wants revenge for the death of his son (killed in the first one by Neeson).

Neeson is able to escape but inexplicably leaves ex-wife Janssen behind, and we’re off to a bunch of action set-pieces sequences in which Neeson barks orders at daughter Grace, especially when she’s behind the wheel in an extended car chase that seemingly tries to jam in every single car chase cliché imaginable - even throwing in the overused oncoming train ploy. 

It’s such a cringe-worthy moment when Neeson, who just knows his daughter (who failed the driver’s test twice) can cross the tracks in time, that it feels like a cheesy parody when the bad guys’ black SUV collides with the train explosively, like we’ve seen so many times before.

Although there are unintentional laughs here and there in this badly shot, horribly edited definition of “unnecessary sequel,” they weren’t enough to keep me from yawning throughout. There are no surprises, or interesting ideas whatsoever in TAKEN 2; it exists only because the first one was a huge hit and its only goal is to try to repeat the formula and hope it pays off again.

To get an idea about how interchangeable these action movie franchise entries are, consider that the first TAKEN was directed by Pierre Morel, who was the cinematographer of THE TRANSPORTER, and worked as a first unit camera operator on TRANSPORTER 2 - actual Jason Statham movies! TAKEN 2 director Olivier Megaton (is that his real name? Awesome if it is) directed TRANSPORTER 3. See what I mean?

Even rabid fans of the first one will find TAKEN 2 to be a big fail of a followup. With hope, maybe now the 60 year old Neeson can finally get over wanting to be a big action star, and go back to, you know, acting?

More later...