Movie Review: Taken 2

Taken is a movie that many like.  I don’t.  So it isn’t a surprise that I hated part 2 even more than part 1.   Sequels are supposed to suck most of the time so if you take a bad movie and make a second part we can expect a catastrophe.  This is the case with Taken 2.  Much like Hangover 2 what somewhat works in the first picture doesn’t necessarily translate to a good second part.     Taken wasn’t as good of a movie as Hangover and that tells you all you need to know of what to expect of the second part.    I’m not a big fan of Liam Neeson.  I think he is not that good of an actor, he seems to be doing the same role every time around.   He is intense, but that intensity translates to the same role every time around.   He frustrates me with his acting and in Taken we are given the same role once again.

If you didn’t watch the first movie, the plot centers around Bryan Mills, a retired CIA operative that has the skills of Batman, SpiderMan and Mike Tyson combined.  He is Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee made in to one, a sort of Rambo of the modern era.  Nothing kills him, touches him or weakens him.   He is obsessed with his daughter, Kim,  in a disturbing way as he’s always on top of what she’s doing.   Lenore, his ex wife, is no married to a millionaire, their divorce seems to have been caused by the intensity that Bryan brings to the table, and with good reason.   Bryan keeps in touch with his daughter in an obsessive way and when he is informed that she would go on a vacation to Paris he goes berserk.  He finally gives his consent for her to go, but not without giving her specific instructions of what to do if something went wrong.  To make things short, his daughter and friend get kidnapped by a gang and sold to some hot shot millionaires.   Bryan sets off to Paris and kills everyone in his path, outruns an Audi, and finally gets his daughter back home.

Lenny seems to be having trouble in her marriage in part 2.  Bryan offers his help by inviting her and Kim to Istanbul.  What Bryan wasn’t counting on was that the families of the guys he killed in part 1 were now pursuing him to get revenge.    This time around,  he and his wife get kidnapped.   Relying on his daughter he gets himself out of trouble only to try and rescue his ex wife while killing, destroying, bombing and stabbing his way to victory.   I won’t give out specifics but lets say that this movie is as predictable as any i’ve ever seen.  Its badly shot, music is horrible, effects are not up to par to other action movies, and its just plain ridiculous.   Its just a stupid movie.

I’ve seen many action movies that rely on stupid plots and un human like super powers, but this one is just plain over the top.  I like movies like Mission Impossible where you know that things are going to get stupid right away, but interesting.  With Taken 1 and 2 you get a simple bad plot with impossible antics here and there.   It also relies on low budget production a’la Twilight and still manages to make money.   I’m guessing people want to watch this kind of movies as they seem to be doing well at the box office.  Or maybe i’m the hater here?  Anyways I won’t score it favorably as it plainly sucks.

SCORE 2.5 out of 10.0