Taken 2 Review

Director: Olivier Megaton

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija, Leland Orser

Running time: 91 minutes

Certificate: 12A

Synopsis: In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

We all know the magnificence of TAKEN, where Liam Neeson is in fine form, disarming and killing senseless sex and drug traffickers after they’ve nabbed his daughter, they’ll think twice next time they try to cross an ex- CIA field operative. When TAKEN 2 was first announced, there was celebration in the THN collective and across the board as we waited to see where Neeson’s Bryan Mills could go next. However, you know that gut-feeling when they should have left something alone? TAKEN 2 is everything you don’t want from a follow up.

TAKEN didn’t mess around with background stories but the sequel tries to build an emotional background for Mills, his family and scattering of friends. The immediate problem is we know the characters, why Besson and Kamen found it necessary to expand this world is beyond understanding. For all the flash, fight and balls of the first, TAKEN 2 decides to make us care about the characters but this isn’t necessary.

Another problem is the constant teasing of the ‘taken’ part and the focus on the baddies trying to find some form of clichéd lair, this takes the surprise component out and inadvertently gives us an obvious indication of what’s coming. Also, why do gangs and kidnappers always stay in places with one fuzzy black and white television with dodgy reception? Is this on the list of ‘must-haves’ in some kind of AUSTIN POWERS way?

Avoiding spoilers and trying to find some positives, there are two much tighter sections that impress. The first includes DRIVE track ‘Tick of the Clock’  that works tremendously well as Mills makes his way down dark alleys as the camera sticks with him, as he delves into a much darker, unpredictable world. There’s also a map reading and hand grenades narrative, which is more intriguing than anything that has already passed.

As awesome as Neeson still is, they don’t use his character physically enough. Somehow, they’ve unintentionally created a parody that doesn’t cut loose of the aforementioned cliché. Even the fight scenes are edited at such a haphazard pace that you don’t know who’s hitting who or even where the punches or people are coming from.

In truth, you want to see them get taken and then watch Mills fight his way back and succeed. We don’t need an emotive background check, or a deeper understanding of their situation since we last saw them. TAKEN 2 is a seriously flawed follow-up and with it, extremely disappointing. There’s one scene where Nesson’s Mills says he’s about to do “What I does best” and although he, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen try their hardest, it’s everything around that lets them down.

TAKEN 2 opens on 4th October.