Director: Olivier Megaton
Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija, Leland Orser
Country: France / United States
Rating: Unrated
Run Time: 98 minutes
Taste the Anticipation is a series dedicated to reviewing films in anticipation of a newer up and coming release. Whether it a previous franchise installment, a forgotten film within a director's immense oveure, or a thematically similar venture, anything is fair game as long as it relates to a newer cinematic product of sorts that I am anticipating.
In anticipation of Taken 3, the supposed final entry in the franchise that launched Liam Neeson to action stardom, I have decided to revisit Taken 2. Even though I previously reviewed the film in January of 2014, I feel that I owe the film a revisit and a proper review. I said some things in that old review that don't represent the "me" of today. I claimed that Under Siege 2: Dark Territory was a bad sequel when I hadn't even seen the film! I was such a schmuck. I also don't feel that I properly conveyed my opinion about the film's pace and lack of excitement. Therefore, I have decided to re-review the film and give my two cents about Taken 2 once and for all.
Pierre Morel's original Taken was a critical and commercial hit that came out of nowhere. Action fans and non-action fans alike loved it and sang the film's praises. Nobody could have guessed that Liam Neeson would break out in such a big way after doing a simple Seagal-minded actioner, but he did. I still sing the film's praises to this day and consider it to be one of the 100 greatest action films ever made. If you would like to see my praises for the film, check out my review.
However, Taken 2 was not as well received. Even though the film was a bigger box office success, critics and non-action fans alike decried the film as a lazy sequel that failed to live up to its predecessor's charms. And while I agree with these critics that Taken 2 is no Taken, I still find the sequel to be an entertaining action film that pleases my action taste buds. Unfortunately, the film suffers from incoherent fight scenes, rapid cutting, and an all around lack of excitement or tension.
Pierre Morel's original Taken was a critical and commercial hit that came out of nowhere. Action fans and non-action fans alike loved it and sang the film's praises. Nobody could have guessed that Liam Neeson would break out in such a big way after doing a simple Seagal-minded actioner, but he did. I still sing the film's praises to this day and consider it to be one of the 100 greatest action films ever made. If you would like to see my praises for the film, check out my review.
However, Taken 2 was not as well received. Even though the film was a bigger box office success, critics and non-action fans alike decried the film as a lazy sequel that failed to live up to its predecessor's charms. And while I agree with these critics that Taken 2 is no Taken, I still find the sequel to be an entertaining action film that pleases my action taste buds. Unfortunately, the film suffers from incoherent fight scenes, rapid cutting, and an all around lack of excitement or tension.
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| Some good father daughter bonding time. |
Taken 2 opens what must be a few months after the events of Taken. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is closer than ever with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) after saving her from sex traffickers in Paris (check out Taken if you missed out on all of the bloodshed). Bryan continues to include himself in Kim's life by teaching her how to drive and checking up on her while she makes out with her new boyfriend. One day, Lenore's current husband abandons her and Kim due to marital arguments. Therefore, Bryan offers for the two to join him in Istanbul, Turkey while he is on a security job. The two eventually join Bryan for a nice vacation and seem on their way to mending their old family back together.
Unfortunately, Bryan's past actions come to bite him in the butt. Murad (Rade Serbedzija) and a group of men related to the Albanians murdered in Taken want vengeance for the loss of their loved ones at the hands of Bryan Mills. Therefore, the men ambush Bryan and Lenore while on the streets of Istanbul. Before he and his wife are taken though, Bryan makes a phone call to Kim telling her how to help him escape his captors. It is than up to Kim to get Bryan's weapons to him and to locate him before he and Lenore are murdered.
I have heard several critics and people state that Taken 2 is a weak sequel because it shamelessly rehashes the original film's plot a-la The Hangover 2 or Die Hard 2: Die Harder. However, I personally disagree with this statement. While Taken takes place over three days as a father looks for his kidnapped daughter in crime ridden Paris, Taken 2 takes place over a few hours as a father has to escape his captors and work with his daughter in order to save his wife from men looking for vengeance on his past actions. Even though Bryan ultimately has to rescue someone he loves from evil men, the similarities end there. Taken 2 has far more differences with Taken than most people recognize. As far as sequels come, Taken 2 does exactly what a sequel should do. It builds upon the mythology of the original film, ups the stakes, and delivers bigger action set pieces.
My main problem with Taken 2 is purely in its execution. For starters, the drama and tension in the film is nowhere near as tense or gripping as the happenings in Taken. There was a real sense of danger and excitement in Taken because Bryan was told he had only 72 hours to find his daughter before she disappeared forever. In Taken 2 however, Bryan spends half the movie escaping his captors and than the other half getting his wife back. Bryan also knows exactly where his loved one is this time around in contrast to his search for Kim in Taken. Even though the stakes are higher, Bryan shows no difficulty in dealing with the situation or his captors. Taken 2 fails to make its action proceedings or life or death situation exciting or engaging. The execution is formulaic and cheap.
The one scene in Taken 2 that most recalls Taken is when Bryan calls Kim before he is about to be taken himself. It's a nice reversal of the original film's famous phone call scene in which Kim calls Bryan before she is taken. However, I have a huge issue with this scene because Bryan calls Kim in the middle of a Mexican standoff with several gunmen. I don't understand why the gunmen stand there and let him make a call that gives his daughter the chance to save herself and Bryan as well. It baffles me that the gunmen don't shoot down Bryan or tell him to put the phone down. Instead, the gunmen stand there like idiots and allow Bryan to make a crucial phone call! This scene would have made more sense if Bryan was hiding and saw that the gunmen had a gun to Lenore's head. Therefore, Bryan would call Kim and inform her of his situation. He would than step out of hiding and surrender himself in order to keep his wife safe. This would make more sense because the gunmen would be unaware of Kim's advantage and believe that she would be vulnerable back at the hotel. Come on, Luc Besson, I just came up with this alternative right now.
However, Taken 2 gets to the hard hitting action much quicker than Taken, a whole 13 minutes quicker if I am correct. I applaud screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen for remembering to re-establish the franchise's characters before throwing them into the hornet's nest. I also enjoy Besson and Kamen's decision to write an action film that forces the protagonist to deal with the consequences of their action's from the previous installment. Numerous action pictures and sequels showcase the hero kill countless enemies but never have to face the friends or families of the ones they killed (Death Wish series, The Transporter series, Under Siege series, etc). Therefore, it is nice to see Bryan Mills pay the price of his actions even though they were noble and righteous.
Taken 2 also has the upper hand when it comes to color grading and lighting. The film looks far darker and grittier in comparison to Taken. And while I prefer the camera work and editing in the first Taken, the gritty colors and dirty sets of Taken 2 go along way for me by reinforcing the film's gritty tone. It's the same exact situation with another EuropaCorp franchise, the Transporter series. Even though The Transporter is visually bland and Transporter 2 is a visual overload of teal and orange, the final installment of Transporter 3 is beautifully lit with blues, blacks, and whites in order to match its filmic tone.
Unfortunately, Bryan's past actions come to bite him in the butt. Murad (Rade Serbedzija) and a group of men related to the Albanians murdered in Taken want vengeance for the loss of their loved ones at the hands of Bryan Mills. Therefore, the men ambush Bryan and Lenore while on the streets of Istanbul. Before he and his wife are taken though, Bryan makes a phone call to Kim telling her how to help him escape his captors. It is than up to Kim to get Bryan's weapons to him and to locate him before he and Lenore are murdered.
I have heard several critics and people state that Taken 2 is a weak sequel because it shamelessly rehashes the original film's plot a-la The Hangover 2 or Die Hard 2: Die Harder. However, I personally disagree with this statement. While Taken takes place over three days as a father looks for his kidnapped daughter in crime ridden Paris, Taken 2 takes place over a few hours as a father has to escape his captors and work with his daughter in order to save his wife from men looking for vengeance on his past actions. Even though Bryan ultimately has to rescue someone he loves from evil men, the similarities end there. Taken 2 has far more differences with Taken than most people recognize. As far as sequels come, Taken 2 does exactly what a sequel should do. It builds upon the mythology of the original film, ups the stakes, and delivers bigger action set pieces.
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| Turkish Standoff |
My main problem with Taken 2 is purely in its execution. For starters, the drama and tension in the film is nowhere near as tense or gripping as the happenings in Taken. There was a real sense of danger and excitement in Taken because Bryan was told he had only 72 hours to find his daughter before she disappeared forever. In Taken 2 however, Bryan spends half the movie escaping his captors and than the other half getting his wife back. Bryan also knows exactly where his loved one is this time around in contrast to his search for Kim in Taken. Even though the stakes are higher, Bryan shows no difficulty in dealing with the situation or his captors. Taken 2 fails to make its action proceedings or life or death situation exciting or engaging. The execution is formulaic and cheap.
The one scene in Taken 2 that most recalls Taken is when Bryan calls Kim before he is about to be taken himself. It's a nice reversal of the original film's famous phone call scene in which Kim calls Bryan before she is taken. However, I have a huge issue with this scene because Bryan calls Kim in the middle of a Mexican standoff with several gunmen. I don't understand why the gunmen stand there and let him make a call that gives his daughter the chance to save herself and Bryan as well. It baffles me that the gunmen don't shoot down Bryan or tell him to put the phone down. Instead, the gunmen stand there like idiots and allow Bryan to make a crucial phone call! This scene would have made more sense if Bryan was hiding and saw that the gunmen had a gun to Lenore's head. Therefore, Bryan would call Kim and inform her of his situation. He would than step out of hiding and surrender himself in order to keep his wife safe. This would make more sense because the gunmen would be unaware of Kim's advantage and believe that she would be vulnerable back at the hotel. Come on, Luc Besson, I just came up with this alternative right now.
However, Taken 2 gets to the hard hitting action much quicker than Taken, a whole 13 minutes quicker if I am correct. I applaud screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen for remembering to re-establish the franchise's characters before throwing them into the hornet's nest. I also enjoy Besson and Kamen's decision to write an action film that forces the protagonist to deal with the consequences of their action's from the previous installment. Numerous action pictures and sequels showcase the hero kill countless enemies but never have to face the friends or families of the ones they killed (Death Wish series, The Transporter series, Under Siege series, etc). Therefore, it is nice to see Bryan Mills pay the price of his actions even though they were noble and righteous.
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| First Kimmy and now Lenny, oh boy. |
Taken 2 also has the upper hand when it comes to color grading and lighting. The film looks far darker and grittier in comparison to Taken. And while I prefer the camera work and editing in the first Taken, the gritty colors and dirty sets of Taken 2 go along way for me by reinforcing the film's gritty tone. It's the same exact situation with another EuropaCorp franchise, the Transporter series. Even though The Transporter is visually bland and Transporter 2 is a visual overload of teal and orange, the final installment of Transporter 3 is beautifully lit with blues, blacks, and whites in order to match its filmic tone.
I love Bryan Mills with all of my heart. He's one of my favorite characters in any action film. There is nothing better than a family man who kicks ass and cares for those he loves. My favorite Bryan Mills moments in Taken 2 are the small meticulous beats that casual film goers will miss. I love how Bryan does the finish on his car at the car wash even though it is included with the purchase. I also love how Bryan shows up to Kim's house to teach her how to drive and stays seated in his car until exactly 2:00 P.M., thereby being exactly on time, not a minute earlier and not a minute later. These meticulous beats show that Besson and Kamen understand their character and refuse to make him a heartless killing machine. Neeson does a fine job in the role this go around. He brings all of his hard hitting skills and likable charms from Taken over to the sequel. Unfortunately, the film's action scenes are filmed so horribly that Neeson doesn't come off as awesome as he should. But we'll get to that in a minute.
Returning characters Kim, Lenore, and even Bryan's buddy Sam do a fine job in their roles. Kim is given far more screen time since she isn't taken this time. I especially admire how Besson and Kamen were able to utilize Kim's character to help her father out. Rade Serbedzija (Mission Impossible II) also does a fine job as Murad, the film's main baddie. Even though Murad is a sub-standard villain that we have seen a million times in action cinema, one cannot deny Serbedzija's skills as a screen villain. He looks and sounds the part so well. Serbedzija is notoriously type cast as villains in nearly every American film or television show that he appears in. But it's alright, because Rade is good in my book. I also like how the film puts a singular face to its antagonist instead of making numerous unnamed kidnappers and slavers the villain a-la Taken. It makes it easier for the audience to know who to hate and who to put a face to the film's villainy.
Even with its lack of tension, Taken 2 could have still been a solid action sequel a-la Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Predator 2, Death Wish 2, Rambo: First Blood Part II, or Transporter 2 if its action scenes were actually awesome. The editing and photography is so bad in some sequences that the fight choreography is near impossible to make out. The first fight scene in which Bryan fights several of Murad's men with night sticks is shot with close ups that render the fight incoherent and sloppy. Punches, kicks, and beat downs also lack the same weight that they had in Taken. Every physical beat down seems weaker and slower due to the film's poor sound editing, rapid cutting, and shaky photography. In fact, I would say that the film has weaker choreography all around. You know something is wrong with your film when your protagonist appears weaker and slower after only one film.
Taken 2's action scenes also have an extreme lack of excitement or competent direction. For example, the film concludes with a large shootout between Bryan and Murad's henchmen at their hideout. I love the setting of the abandoned hotel and the concept of the action scene itself. However, the big finale lacks any forward motion or tension. As Bryan makes his way through the hotel, he takes out a few henchmen every 30 seconds or so. However, the sequence consistently pauses in between kills to show Bryan make his way through the hotel some more or to show Murad and his right hand man run away. Therefore, the sequence becomes a montage of violence instead of an exciting or tense action set piece to end the film on. The final boat shootout in Taken is exactly what this sequence should have been: tense, exciting, action packed, and thrilling.
But for all of my complaints about director Olivier Megaton's action scenes, there are still a few cool moments here and there. There's a really bad ass scene where Bryan walks into a room filled with Murad's henchmen and proceeds to gun them all down. When one of them kicks at Bryan, he catches the man's leg and repeatedly fires his gun into the man's foot! Ouch! There is also some pretty cool stunts during the film's car chase set piece. And even though I complained about the film's final gun fight, there are several bad ass kills and moments of violence in it to please even the pickiest of action fans like myself.
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| The signature Bryan Mills neck snap. |
Even with its lack of tension, Taken 2 could have still been a solid action sequel a-la Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Predator 2, Death Wish 2, Rambo: First Blood Part II, or Transporter 2 if its action scenes were actually awesome. The editing and photography is so bad in some sequences that the fight choreography is near impossible to make out. The first fight scene in which Bryan fights several of Murad's men with night sticks is shot with close ups that render the fight incoherent and sloppy. Punches, kicks, and beat downs also lack the same weight that they had in Taken. Every physical beat down seems weaker and slower due to the film's poor sound editing, rapid cutting, and shaky photography. In fact, I would say that the film has weaker choreography all around. You know something is wrong with your film when your protagonist appears weaker and slower after only one film.
Taken 2's action scenes also have an extreme lack of excitement or competent direction. For example, the film concludes with a large shootout between Bryan and Murad's henchmen at their hideout. I love the setting of the abandoned hotel and the concept of the action scene itself. However, the big finale lacks any forward motion or tension. As Bryan makes his way through the hotel, he takes out a few henchmen every 30 seconds or so. However, the sequence consistently pauses in between kills to show Bryan make his way through the hotel some more or to show Murad and his right hand man run away. Therefore, the sequence becomes a montage of violence instead of an exciting or tense action set piece to end the film on. The final boat shootout in Taken is exactly what this sequence should have been: tense, exciting, action packed, and thrilling.
But for all of my complaints about director Olivier Megaton's action scenes, there are still a few cool moments here and there. There's a really bad ass scene where Bryan walks into a room filled with Murad's henchmen and proceeds to gun them all down. When one of them kicks at Bryan, he catches the man's leg and repeatedly fires his gun into the man's foot! Ouch! There is also some pretty cool stunts during the film's car chase set piece. And even though I complained about the film's final gun fight, there are several bad ass kills and moments of violence in it to please even the pickiest of action fans like myself.
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| My favorite screen shot in the film. |
I also have to remind action fans out there that the Unrated Cut of Taken 2 is the way to go. The cut restores all blood and adds extra frames of violence cut from the tame PG-13 theatrical cut. Blame it on the M.P.A.A. or the studio's insistence on a bankable PG-13 product. But as always, I will only watch the unrated cut of Taken 1 and 2 from now on.
I am sad to report that Taken 2 does not beg repeat viewings like its excellent predecessor. The action scenes are lacking, the drama isn't as engaging, and the situation is neither tense or gripping. However, the film is a swift and entertaining actioner that occasionally delivers the goods and gives us Liam Neeson in prime ass kicking mode. It's just a shame that the film features such awful editing and photography. While I highly recommend Taken to all non-action fans, I can't say the same for Taken 2. Unless you love these characters, the franchise, or the genre, you are best off staying away from this subpar but entertaining sequel.
Rating: 6/10 - A mildly entertaining sequel that fails to match or surpass its excellent predecessor.
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