Thoughts On: Taken T.V. Series (2017) - Pilot

Television producers are currently experiencing a dry spell like no other in that they are turning to recognizable cinematic properties for their television series. While this is not strange, as television series have been based around film properties before, lately there have been a string of dry adaptations and blatant rip-offs to superior cinematic properties, most notably the failed Rush Hour series, the currently on air Lethal Weapon, and the brand new Training Day series. What's sad is that none of these series add to their franchises or successfully duplicate what made the originals so great. Instead, they blatantly rip-off what was done so much better before, but now done far worse. Television producers think they can simply replace said stars with other actors and duplicate the formula again and call it a day, but that doesn't equal quality.

The latest entry in this series of unnecessary television adaptations of superior action films is Taken, a prequel series that no one asked for. I'm embarrassed to even be writing about this new series, but I have been morbidly curious to check it out due to my love for the original film and because this show seems so unnecessary. There's no denying that the Taken series has been one of dwindling creative returns. Each successive film in the series has been drastically worse than the previous (click here, here, and here, for my detailed reviews of each film). However, each sequel has been more successful than the previous, which means that the Taken brand is a viable and marketable one that people will seemingly turn out for no matter what. The abuse of that brand name is now put to the test with the Taken television series, the second series to be adapted from a string of EuropaCorp action films, the first being the Transporter series, which sucked the big one.

Although completely unnecessary, the Taken series acts as a prequel to the first film, finding a young Bryan Mills (now played by Clive Standen) aboard a train with his sister. When Mills notices some suspicious characters on the train, he alerts his sister to cause a distraction so that he can take out the armed gunmen. After dispatching the men in quick Mills fashion, including one of Mills trademark punches from the first film, his poor sister dies in the ensuing confusion. Later, Mills is recruited to join the CIA and help them due to this exemplary skills that day, which will lead him on the path to discover those trusty skills of his that he puts to use over the course of the films.

I have to be honest, I did not watch the entire episode, simply because it got so bad at one point that I had to start fast forwarding to what looked like the most exciting or interesting parts. Besides a promising start, and I say that with the utmost kindness, the show quickly devolves into your typical network action thriller with copious amounts of boring exposition and dull dialog. The most obvious issue is that the series features no real similarities to the Taken films, besides the fact that it is a show about a CIA agent who kicks ass. 

Will the real Bryan Mills please stand up?

The plot is obviously different, but instantly less gripping, as a story about a protective father on a time crunch is far more exciting than an origin story about that father before he became a father. Also, when you take away Bryan's status as a father, which includes his protective nature towards his daughter, he immediately becomes a far less interesting character, as he is simply your average action hero. Although the show's writers and producers think they are paying tribute to the first film, it's honestly more in line with Taken 2 and Taken 3, as it's nothing more than your average action film with the Taken brand name. 

The show is also in line with the sequels in that its action is rather disappointing, with there being hardly any in the entire pilot. The only action scene that I would deem memorable is the opening train assault, specifically because it felt creative in its construction. It also reminded me of one of my favorite action films from the 90s, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, which you should watch instead of this garbage television show. A shootout later on has some solid action shots, including a part where Bryan rolls around whilst firing two pistols, but beyond that, none of the action is well shot, falling very much in line with Olivier Megaton's nauseating queasy cam post-action. Also, firing two guns at once doesn't seem very Bryan Mills if you ask me. After all, Bryan is supposed to be a well trained and skilled CIA agent who always uses one hand gun at a time and aims all of his shots. I know that this is supposed to be an origin story to Bryan's bad ass skills, but I highly doubt that the writers thought about Bryan's shooting tactics, which proves how much they respect the character.

There's not much to say about this one folks. The Taken television series is so bad, that it actually makes Taken 3 (alternately titled Tak3n for those who didn't know what film I was referring too) look good, darn near competent even. A bad action film can always be redeemed by some half decent action and the star power of its notable actors, such as with Neeson in Taken 3 or even Jason Statham in another Megaton directed action film, Transporter 3. But the Taken television series not only has the dull as hell plotting and weak character work of those films, but barely any action to write home about, let alone a star to remember. Therefore, and I say this with all honesty, there is nothing to recommend in this show. Now that we live in a day and age of incredible television that usurps the work on the big screen, we don't have time for this kind of I.P. driven crap. Unless you are willing to create the next Jack Bauer or Bryan Mills for television, don't fall back onto a previously developed character and think that you are doing anything fresh or exciting. I fully expect Taken to be cancelled by the end of its first season, as absolutely nobody is talking about it, let alone watching it. 

Old Guys Kick Ass - Analyzing a Decade Long Trend in Action Cinema

Note: I originally started to write this article at the beginning of the year but never got around to finishing it. It could honestly go on forever, drifting away from movies and focusing on society and what not too. However, I didn't want all of my writing to go to waste, so I have decided to post it anyways. It doesn't feel entirely finished, but it does track the downfall of the action star up to their aged return, and offers a solution as well. Maybe it'll be a chapter in a future book I write one day or something like that. I don't know. Anyways, Merry Christmas and enjoy!

Step aside youngins, the old guys are taking over.

I have noticed two major trends in today's day and age of action cinema. Traditional action films featuring guns and fist fights have become dominated by older actors while CG heavy superhero blockbusters have become dominated by younger actors. Slam bam action films with explosions, high body counts, and lots of bullets are no longer the box office hits they used to be. International audiences, as well as domestic audiences, want superheroes and Transformers, plain and simple. And while that reality breaks my heart, I find it interesting that no young or upcoming action stars in true action films have broken out with mainstream success.

It seems that younger action stars like Scott Adkins (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Undisputed III: Redemption) and Iko Uwais (The Raid films) only achieve popularity amongst die hard fans of the genre who make the effort to check out foreign cinema or the DTV market (the most criminally underrated niche in all of cinema). However, no action stars tackling old fashioned action material under age 40 have broken out in any way, shape, or form amongst the main stream consciousness. Instead, it seems that action stars under age 40 make their name with tame superhero material; this is why Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are so well known within the public consciousness while Scott Adkins and Iko Uwais sit in obscurity kicking more ass than anyone else in contemporary cinema.

I'm here to give you the action you want people! You just have to buy it on DVD first.

So back to the main topic. As no new or young action stars have become mainstream successes, all of the aged action stars continue to appear in action films and prove that old guys can kick ass. However, non-action stars have now started to fill in action roles too and become stars of their own. Academy Award nominated actors like Liam Neeson and Denzel Washington have become action stars in their own right even though they did not begin their careers that way. A Taken here, an Equalizer there, and bam, you're apparently an action star that easy. Mainstream action entertainment that relies upon fist fights and old fashioned explosions has split into two categories nowadays: 1) action movies featuring aged action icons, and 2) action movies featuring non-action stars.

I believe that this trend of old men kicking ass started all the way back in the late 2000s thanks to none other than Sylvester Stallone. Stallone gave audiences the one-two punch in 2006 and 2008 as he revived two of his most iconic characters in Rocky Balboa and Rambo. Both of these films revived two dead franchises and operated as the proper conclusions that each series deserved. Both films told stories about old men who used to kick ass when they were young and were now back to show a younger generation that they know a thing or two about knocking their enemies down. In a sense, Rockby Balboa and Rambo jumpstarted the contemporary movement of old guys kicking ass in action cinema. It also brought Stallone's career back from the dead and sort of made him the figure head of said movement.

Before I continue forward from 2006, I believe it is important to look at two other time periods before 2006 that played an essential role in predicting how elder actors would take over the genre. The first is the 1990s, or more specifically, Clint Eastwood. In 1992, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in Unforgiven, a Twilight Western that served as Clint's swan song to the genre that made him a star. The film was a mature and reflexive work of Clint's in which he addressed his elder age and body of work. Clint took on the topic of the aged ass kicker and turned him into a vulnerable and human character with regrets and disabilities. The film was such a success that it won Clint his first Best Director and Best Picture Oscars at the Academy Awards that year. Unforgiven is widely considered to be one of the last great American Westerns too (although I could see Tarantino's Django Unchained becoming a classic).

Films like The Rookie may be Unforgive-able but Clint has more than made up for it.

Eastwood followed up Unforgiven with two mature genre films of his in which he played aged characters who combated evil and struggled with their disabilities. Those films, In the Line of Fire and Blood Work, showcased a trend in Eastwood's films where he would make himself sound older than he truly sounded. Both films featured an older actor kicking ass while also addressing the issue of their age. Even though Clint continued to star in non-action films that addressed his age, he had one more genre picture of his in his back pocket that served as the end all be all for the mature ass kicker film. That film was Gran Torino, and it was released in 2008, amidst Stallone's revival. Therefore, Eastwood not only foretold the aged ass kicker genre, but even made one himself as the contemporary movement was starting to take off. And while Gran Torino doesn't feature a character who goes around killing people, it does feature a bad ass veteran who stands up for what is right and teaches some punks a thing or two without ever having to kill them.

Okay, so the importance of Clint is out of the way. Well, what comes next? To be specific, the next era I am focusing on is the late 1990s and the early 2000s. In this time period, many of the action icons from the 80s either churned out some of their worst films or simply started to drift away from the genre that established them as stars. Arnold started to moved towards increasingly family friendly material and made some of his biggest flops (Jingle All the Way, Batman and Robin, Collateral Damage), Stallone struggled with his identity as an actor as he tackled character driven films and made lackluster action films (Cop Land, Driven, Get Carter), Van Damme, Dolph, and Seagal shifted towards the DTV realm, and Harrison Ford stopped starring in action films altogether. But most importantly, the quality of action output by these once great action icons was worse than ever. In these icons weakest moments, the superhero genre slowly but surely snuck into prominence as the likes of Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man swept into theaters and announced a new sub-genre's arrival. Just as the superhero wheel started spinning, Stallone came back with Rocky Balboa and Rambo in the mid to late 2000s to prove that the old action icons could still kick ass. Unfortunately, it was too little too late.

Even though several aged icons came back to the big screen, non action-stars became stars, and the DTV market experienced an increase in quality, it wasn't enough to stop the superhero's dominance of the action genre. In the action icon's weakest moment, a new hero, literally superheroes, arose and took over the box office for what seems to be no end in sight. However, that wouldn't stop the old guys from coming back and kicking ass.

After Stallone got the old guy ball rolling, others followed suit. In 2007 and 2008, Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis reprised their two most iconic characters with Live Free or Die Hard and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, both the fourth entries in their respective franchises that both had lengthy hiatuses of over 10 years each. Both films were big box office hits because their lead characters were titans in the action genre and it was pretty great to see both Indiana Jones and John McClane kick ass again after so long. Although Indy 4 proved to be the end of Ford's journey, Die Hard 4 rejuvenated its franchise and heralded the return of the series with an eventual 5th sequel in 2013. It was also here in 2008 where Clint Eastwood released Gran Torino, a fantastic drama that took the topic of the aged ass kicker seriously. Although not an action film, Gran Torino played an essential part in the old guys kick ass movement because the film was a box office success and showed that Eastwood was still a bad ass even if he couldn't jump over a fence or crash a car for thrills.

Still cracking wise after all of these years.

As Stallone and friends laid the seeds for what would call all of the aged action icons back to the big screen, Luc Besson and Pierre Morel made a tiny action film called Taken in 2008 that proved to be a landmark action picture that made a lasting impact on the genre. Taken took an Academy Award nominated actor, Liam Neeson, and plunged him into a Steven Seagal-esque film that became a huge commercial success. Neeson set a new precedence for action stardom with Taken because he proved that a non-action star could become an action star overnight. Neeson also currently ranks as the highest grossing action star in mainstream cinema even though he is 62 years old.

After starring in and directing both Rocky Balboa and Rambo, Stallone followed up with the ultimate old guys kick ass film in 2010: The Expendables. The Expendables is the film that all but cemented the aged action icons' return to the big screen. What started out as a simple men on a mission film quickly turned into a franchise that gave icons a chance to return to the big screen to kick ass along side Stallone. Actors like Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Chuck Norris returned to the big screen for the first time in over a decade with The Expendables films. Two sequels eventually followed in 2012 and 2014 to box office success. The Expendables series is also important because it gave Arnold Schwarzenegger his chance to return to action cinema after his long stint as the Governor of California. Schwarzenegger quickly followed up with numerous films (The Last Stand, Sabotage, Terminator: Genisys) that set out to prove that an aged ass kicker like himself could still be awesome despite his age. Even though Stallone called all of the old guys back to the big screen, Schwarzenegger cemented their return.

Several other aged actors followed suit and began devoting their careers to action cinema too. Aged character actor Danny Trejo eventually found big screen stardom in Machete, which also saw the big screen return of icon Steven Seagal for the first time since 2001's Exit Wounds. Denzel Washington (age 60) also started to commit his career to action films in the early 2000s. It's important to note that four of his last five films since 2010 have all been action films: The Book of Eli, Safe House, 2 Guns, and The Equalizer. Although this analysis is mainly of American cinema, international action icons like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Chow Yun Fat continued to star in action films despite nearing elder age. Therefore, it seems that even the international icons have stuck around to kick ass. However, action cinema is a whole other story in foreign countries because new talent consistently pops up and breaks out in a big way (i.e. Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Byung Hun Lee, etc).

Keanu Reeves (age 50) also returned to action in a big way with action films like The Man of Tai Chi and John Wick despite abandoning the genre for a good portion of his career after failures like Constantine and Street Kings. Kevin Costner also returned to action with films like 3 Days to Kill in which he played an aged secret agent who was stricken with cancer, another sign of old age. Even Academy Award winning actors Sean Penn and Collin Firth got into the action game with leading action performances in The Gunman and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Expendables 4? Let's do it!

As much as I enjoy several of these actors and their films, I think that they all need to take a hint from Eastwood in order to survive. Let me explain. Eastwood understood that he had reached the end of his physical ass kicking days. Therefore, his films addressed his age and humanized the mythic and iconic ass kicker. Instead of trying to be hip and cool to the times, Eastwood structured his action films around his age, thereby earning the respect of critics and audiences alike. Why do you think Clint Eastwood is still remembered as an immortal action icon yet actors like Stallone and Schwarzenegger are remembered as being once great action icons? It's because Eastwood has never been afraid to address his age. Stallone on the other hand tries to make himself as hip, funny, and cool as possible by injecting his Expendables films with lots of self aware humor. He has since devolved into lazy action filmmaking despite showcasing an Eastwood-esque level of maturity in Rocky Balboa, Rambo, and some of the first Expendables film.

This article could go on forever. I could possibly engage in a conversation about why modern audiences don't care about these aged action icons as much as they do superheroes, but that's more of a conversation about blockbuster cinema in general. Therefore, I hope that this article helped you realize that the aged ass kicker is back and not going anywhere. That is, until they die...

Taken 3 (2015) - Theatrical Review

Director: Olivier Megaton

Cast: Liam Neeson, Forrest Whitaker, Maggie Grace, Dougray Scott, Leland Orser
Country: France
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 108 minutes

There's no clever way to introduce this or fun way to beat around the bush. Therefore, I am just going to get right to it. Taken 3 ends the Taken trilogy on a whimper with the queasiest action scenes yet. It wasn't enough that director Olivier Megaton ruined Transporter 3 back in '08, the man had to get his silky fingers all over Taken 3 and drag it down to the same depths of queasy cam hell. Also, talk about a bad time for third installments lately. The Expendables 3 was an atrocious installment in an otherwise good action franchise that relied upon old fashioned bad ass entertainment. And now we have Taken 3, the final installment in a franchise that started off on fire but has since burnt out to nothing but ashes. It's a shame because even though Taken 3 takes a tired franchise in a fresh direction, the execution is what brings the film crashing down.

"Give me my $20 million, I'm done with this Bryan Mills crap."

Taken 3 places Bryan Mills into the biggest, boldest, and grandest crisis of his life yet. After the events of Taken and Taken 2, Mills continues his life in Los Angeles near his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). Kim is grown up now and living with her new boyfriend while Lenore is back with her ex-husband, Stuart (Dougray Scott taking over for Xander Berkeley). When Stuart shows up at Bryan's apartment one day, he tells him to stay away from Lenore in order for him to mend his relationship with her better. Bryan reluctantly agrees and continues on with his day to day life. However, he receives a text from Lenore the next day asking if he can meet up and speak with her. Knowing that Lenore may be in serious turmoil, Bryan agrees to meet her at his apartment. Upon arriving, Bryan finds Lenore dead with her throat slit. The police arrive on the scene at the exact moment and suspect Bryan to be the killer. Therefore, Bryan kicks into fugitive mode, escapes the police, and sets out to find his ex-wife's true killer all while clearing his own name.

Even though Taken 2 was different from Taken, the film rang eerily similar in its motions and events. The sequel showcased both a crucial phone call to a loved one and had one of Bryan's loved ones be taken from him yet again. Many people decried the film as a lazy rehash of the original for these things. Screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen must have taken this criticism to heart because the two did a fantastic job at taking the franchise in a new direction for its final installment. Instead of telling another story about one of Bryan's loved ones being physically taken from him, Besson and Kamen wrote a trilogy capper that placed their hero in a The Fugitive-type situation where he has to go on the run and clear his name. Not only is Bryan's ex-wife taken from him forever, but his life is essentially taken as well. Audiences love "innocent men on the run" plots because it makes for exciting and engaging entertainment. I love this fresh direction so much and wished that Taken 3 had found a way to deliver on such a premise. But alas, this is what happens when Besson assigns a hack director like Olivier Megaton to a film.

I have written before that the action scenes featured in Megaton films like Transporter 3 and Taken 2 are mediocre and average at best. His action scenes typically feature extreme close ups and rapid cuts, thereby rendering the action visually incoherent. And while I originally thought that the fight scenes in his films were bad, I didn't know how bad Megaton could get until I saw Taken 3. The action scenes in Taken 3 are some of the worst, if not the worst action scenes in cinema history. Megaton takes his rapid cutting and close shooting to a new extreme of awful. As I sat and the watched the film, I consistently thought to myself, "I have no clue what is going on this action scene. I can't tell if Bryan just killed that character or not." Car chases, fist fights, and foot chases are incoherent to the point of nauseaum. The action photography in Taken 3 is so bad, that you could find better photography in a found footage horror film for goodness sakes!

This image is more bad ass as a still than in motion. Trust me.

I only found two slightly cohesive action beats in all of Taken 3's muddled mess. In one action scene, Bryan and a Russian henchman shoot at one another through a rack of wine bottles in a liquor store. The scene makes for some great carnage and features some of the film's only coherent action photography. I also enjoyed the concept behind the film's final action scene in which Bryan must infiltrate a Russian mob boss' penthouse. Even though the photography is awful during the sequence, a few choice moments of violence make it through all of the clutter to deliver some excitement. Bryan has an especially awesome one on one gun fight with the mob boss in his apartment that makes for a cool shootout. 

The Taken franchise is notorious for its violence being neutered upon theatrical release but eventually restored upon home media release. This time around though, I don't know if an unrated cut would make much of a difference. Even if extra moments of violence were added, I don't know if I could catch them amongst the film's many cuts and extreme close ups. It should be noted that Taken 3's violence is shockingly tame as well. I miss the days when we could actually see Bryan shoot a henchman in the face. Now we get a simple cut away and a sound effect letting us know what happened. Oh boy, how exciting.

Liam Neeson seems to be going with the motions more than ever as he nearly reaches the point of self parody with his turn in Taken 3. Neeson's gruff statements and actions seem lazier than ever. It's a damn shame that the great Bryan Mills goes off on such a low note because Mills makes for a great screen character when treated correctly a-la Taken. Returning cast members Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, and Famke Janssen do a fine job as always with respective franchise characters. However, Taken 3 adds a new character dynamic to the film in the form of Inspector Dotzler (Forrest Whitaker). Whitaker plays an Inspector on Mills' case that comes off as a combination between Whitaker's character in The Last Stand and obviously Tommy Lee Jones' character in The Fugitive, a film that was clearly an inspiration on Besson's screenplay. Whitaker's realization of Mills' innocence is entirely predictable and nearly a beat for beat recreation of Jones' realization in The Fugitive. While I commend Besson for adding an inspector dynamic to the film, I decry the man for duplicating The Fugitive beat for beat.

Schindler's List 2: Schindler's Pissed

Taken 3 easily ranks as one of the most disappointing and devastating finales in action history. After the runaway success of Taken and the mediocrity of Taken 2, I had a lot of excitement going into this film. A third film could easily rectify the franchise even if the second installment was weak and tired. But alas, Megaton found a way to make Taken 3 even worse than Taken 2. As a whole, the Taken trilogy is a weak franchise. Individually, each Taken film gets worse than the previous, with the first film being the only excellent installment in the trilogy. Taken 3 is not only the worst installment in the series, but one of the worst installments in any action franchise ever made. The film's incoherent action scenes, predictable villain, and beat for beat recreation of The Fugitive's well known inspector dynamic makes for a truly dreadful viewing experience. Unless something else comes along this year and drops the ball as badly, Taken 3 looks like an early contender for most disappointing action film of 2015. And we're not even two weeks into the new year...

Rating: 4/10 - A dull and dreary finale to a trilogy that simply should have never been a franchise in the first place.

Franchise:
Taken (dir. Pierre Morel, 2008)
Taken 2 (dir. Olivier Megaton, 2012)
Taken 3 (dir. Olivier Megaton, 2015)

Taste the Anticipation - Taken 2: Unrated Cut (2012)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Franchise:

Taken (2008, dir. Pierre Morel)

Taken 2 (2012, dir. Olivier Megaton)

Taken 3 (2015, dir. Olivier Megaton)

Taken: Unrated Cut (2008) - Review

Director: Pierre Morel

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

Country: France

Rating: Unrated

Run Time: 93 minutes

In today's day and age of action cinema, bad ass action icons are no longer the money makers they used  to be. General audiences have drifted towards big budget special effects heavy properties like Transformers, The Avengers, and The Fast and Furious films. The old icons of the 80's no longer pull in box office dollars like they used too. Most of the new films of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger don't even break even with their budgets. However, one French action film in 2008 seemed to prove that the action icon was not dead yet. Pierre Morel's Taken proved to be a huge hit with audiences as it made $226 million off of a measly $25 million budget.

Besides being a very dramatic, action packed, and body count heavy action film, Taken's key ingredient was star Liam Neeson. At the time of Taken's release, Liam Neeson was not typically known as an action star. Even though he had dabbled in action films like Darkman, Star Wars, and Rob Roy, those were just a few action films amongst Neeson's many dramas, romances, and comedies. But Taken seemed to sky rocket Neeson to action icon status. Since Taken, Neeson has starred in numerous action films including Unknown, Taken 2, The Grey, The A-Team, Non-Stop, Walk Among the Tombstones, and the eventual Taken 3. Liam Neeson helped make Taken a better film by bringing his kindness, charm, and Oscar nominated acting chops to a Steven Seagal / Jason Statham-esque action film produced and written by Luc Besson.

Neeson brings the pain in his breakout action film.

Taken has a fantastic and basic premise that attracts both general audiences and die hard action fans. Bryan Mills is an ex-CIA agent who has quit his job in order to live closer to his daughter. Due to his many years of service, Mills grew distant from his family and eventually lost both his daughter and his wife. Now all alone, Mills makes every effort to reconnect with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen).

When Bryan's daughter goes off to Paris with a friend for vacation, she is quickly kidnapped by sex traffickers. Mills than sets out to Paris to track down the men who took his daughter and rescue her before she is lost forever. In Byran's words, "I will burn down the Eiffel Tower if I have too!"

What works so well for Taken is that it has a basic father/daughter premise that immediately draws you in. No offense to Jason Statham and Steven Seagal, but Liam Neeson comes off better in a film like this because he is such a fantastic actor. Neeson brings an incredible warmth to this film that makes me cheer for him. I want Bryan to reconnect with his daughter so badly because he is a good hearted man who wants to make up for his past mistakes. The film takes this story one step further though by having Kim get kidnapped and sending Bryan on a plane to Paris to kick some major butt. Now the film is a story all about what a father will do to get his daughter back from cruel men. This is a premise that any action or non-action fan can get behind because we get to see a father beat down tons of henchmen and bad guys in the process of trying to rescue his poor daughter. Kudos to Luc Besson for crafting a basic yet engaging action premise.

A Good Day to Die Hard's Radivoje Bukvic fires a gun at Neeson.

Bryan Mills is one of the great cinematic action characters like Casey Ryback in the Under Siege series, James Bond in the James Bond series, Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series, Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones series, John McClane in the Die Hard series, or Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series. Mills has many great characteristics to him that make him a unique bad ass. I love Mills' meticulousness when it comes to wrapping a present for his daughter. He spends extra time pressing down on the paper to make sure that it wraps perfectly around the square box sized present. I also love Mills' sacrificial nature of quitting his job just so he can live near his daughter to make up for lost time. Neeson knows that he could be off helping the country and making money but chooses to reconcile with his family after so much damage and hurt. How can you not love this character?

It also helps that Bryan Mills is a certified bad ass. Liam Neeson did all of his own stunts for the film and it certainly shows. While the shootouts never reach a John Woo (Hard Boiled, The Killer) level of excellence and the fight scenes never reach a Yuen Woo Ping (Kill Bill, The Matrix) level of perfection, all of the action scenes are just impressive enough to wow any action fan. Neeson brings a hard hitting level of realism with his neck hitting, gun firing, and knife fighting skills. The action scenes aren't shot too terribly but they aren't majestic either.

It's worth noting that Liam Neeson doesn't kick any ass until 40 minutes into the film. I know that is a long wait for some but the dramatic build up makes it all worth it. Once Neeson hops in a taxi cab and starts beating the crap out of a human trafficking spotter, it's non-stop thrills from there. It's important to mention that you must watch the unrated cut (the original French cut to be exact) because the film contains far more violence, gun firing, and a more graphic torture scene. All of these additions push the film into the range of an "R" rating and distant it from its tame "PG-13" Bourne and Bond counterparts. While the film is not exactly "R" rated, the unrated cut restores enough numerous blood spurts and neck snaps to appease even the most hard core action fan.

Neeson guns down a lousy henchman.

There are two action scenes that really stand out to me in this film. The first is when Bryan Mills visits a house filled with sex traffickers. He plays it cool and pretends to be in control of a satellite that is watching the men and forces the men to pay him money in order for him to look the other way. After he has the men pay, he shows them a card that is written in Albanian. When he asks one of them to translate it, the man states, "Good luck." This is just how Mills heard an unknown kidnapper say "good luck" to him on the phone when his daughter was kidnapped. Neeson immediately smashes the man's head into the table and proceeds to kill every man in the house. It's an awesome action scene and makes great use of knives, human shields, and Neeson gunning down bastards dumb enough to take him on.

The other standout action scene is the big finale on the boat. Bryan tracks down his daughter's kidnappers to a large boat floating down a river in Paris. He works his way through the boat taking down as many henchmen as quietly as possible. However, he eventually has to break out the guns and a fantastic shootout ensues. There's some great stuntwork here. My favorite is when Neeson jumps over a couch and fires from below it to take out a guard. There's also a great action beat where Neeson grabs a guard's MP5 and turns it around and fires it through the door into the guard. The action choreographers and screenwriters of Taken were smart to incorporate various action scenes that range from a car chase in a construction sight, a fight scene in a house, a fist fight in a basement, and a shootout on a moving boat. This way, the action is never boring and no scene ever feels exhausting or tiresome.

The most infamous scene in the film is when Bryan picks up the phone and speaks to his daughter's captor. Liam Neeson delivers a chilling and bad ass monolouge that is one of the greatest lines in bad ass cinema. It's more like a paragraph than a one liner, but it's completely unforgettable. In the words of Neeson, "I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you."

These guys picked the wrong dad to mess with.

In today's day and age of lengthy films and over long run times, Taken is a breath of fresh air. Clocking in at only 90 minutes, Taken is incredibly brisk and will be over before you know it. I think that Taken is the last truly great EuropaCorp action film. Since Taken, EuropaCorp's quality output has drastically decreased. Their newer films (Transporter 3, From Paris With Love, Taken 2, Colombiana, Lock Out, 3 Days to Kill, etc) are usually low grade to middle grade action films that wish they were as fresh and exciting as older Luc Besson / EuropaCorp productions like Transporter 1 and 2, District B13, Taxi, and Unleashed.

I also have qualms with the fact that we don't see Bryan Mills save any prostitutes other than the ones that lead him to his daughter. Mills could at least alert the police to save these poor girls or to their whereabouts. This especially bugs me at the end of the film when Neeson finally reunites with his daughter on the boat. Even though all of the bad guys are dead and his daughter is in his arms, there are still two other captive girls whose fates are left unexplained. Did Neeson end up saving these girls or were their fates left unexplained due to the film's weak editing? Little things like this heavily affect the movie for me because the film took the time early on to show just how meticulous Bryan Mills is when he wraps a birthday present.

Neeson takes cover behind a poor car.

Even though Taken is not a perfect action film, it is an absolutely awesome one and one of the best contemporary mainstream action films I have seen. Taken is a lot like Die Hard because a lot of non-action fans love the film. This is mostly due to the relatable father / daughter aspect of the story. We don't have Bryan Mills' bad ass skills but we do have the love and care for our daughters and family the same way that Mills loves and cares for his daughter. I think Taken is an excellent screener for father's day if you ask me.

Taken is a solid action film that catapulted Neeson to action icon status overnight. The film benefits from engaging drama, good performances, solid action scenes, and a brisk run time. Neeson proves himself to be today's box office king as far as action icons come. I highly recommend the unrated cut of this film and hope that all action and non-action fans check the film out!

Rating: 9/10 - A rare mainstream action flick that is both fantastic and rewatchable.

Franchise:
Taken (2008, dir. Pierre Morel)
Taken 2 (2012, dir. Olivier Megaton)
Taken 3 (2015, dir. Olivier Megaton)

Non-Stop (2014)

Director: Jaume Collet-Sera

Cast: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyong'o

Country: United States / France

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 106 minutes

Note: Reviewed at time of theatrical release.

A movie that couldn't exist without texting. Or Liam Neeson. Non-Stop is the latest action thriller from the man himself. Ever since Taken, Liam Neeson has continually proven to kick ass and take names in all of his action thrillers regardless of how good or bad they are. If Neeson is in it, action fans and even casual cinema goers flock to it in droves.

All he wanted to do was play Flappy Bird...

Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a divorced alcoholic. He is also a U.S. Federal Air Marshall. As Bill boards a plane for another routine shift of his, he begins to receive threatening texts. The messenger claims someone will die every 20 minutes if $150 Million is not transferred to an account. Neeson than has to play detective and figure out which of the plane's suspicious passengers is the culprit before people start dying. It's as simple as they come, a who-dun-it thriller in the sky.

There is not much to say about Non-Stop honestly. The film is mainly a who-dun-it thriller. Therefore, the whole film keeps the audience guessing. "Is this passenger innocent? Is this passenger evil? Oh wait, he's pretending to be innocent...right? Oh no, why aren't they on Liam Neeson's side?" These are the questions and many more that you will be asking yourself throughout the flick.

"Everybody sit down. Or I will find you and I will kill you."

I found myself quite enjoying the mystery in this film. I kept trying to figure out who the texter was amongst the many passengers. I thought the reveal was pretty good and not entirely predictable. It is this aspect of the film though that prevents me from wanting to ever rewatch this film though. It's a fun thrill ride the first time. However, the majority of this film is Neeson walking around a plane and trying to figure out who the texter is. Therefore, a second watch might make matters quite dull. That is just my opinion though, some people out there might find this to be the most exciting film ever made. For me, it's an average but serviceable action thriller. Not-bad, not-great, but Non-Stop!

Liam Neeson is upset the inflight movie is not Taken.

Liam Neeson plays a typical action character. Even though he is flawed, he cares about his job and wants to protect the passengers on the plane as best as possible. However, this is more of a thriller and less of an action film. Therefore, Neeson only gets a few choice scenes to show his bad ass side. There is a nice fight scene within the airplane's bathroom that makes for quite a tight quarters combat fight. However, the best moment in the entire film comes right near the end. I can't give it away though, it's too good. It's a beautiful moment that made me want to leap out of my seat and cheer! However, I had a bad headache while watching this film and resigned my excitement to a simple, "Yayah!"

What a glorious moment. Engraved in my mind forever!

Ultimately, Non-Stop gets the job of entertaining the audience done just fine. We are in the spring movie season though, the deadest and dullest time for new film releases. Therefore, Non-Stop probably seems better than it actually is. There isn't anything really wrong with the film. It's just that it's an average and basic who-dun-it film that loses all of its appeal the second time around. But, if you are in need of some trademark Liam Neeson ass-kicking, look no further.

Rating: 7/10 - Non-Stop is a fun serviceable action film. Liam Neeson is great as always and the mystery is quite fun for a first time viewing. I recommend this if you are need of a fun, gritty, and realistic action film to pass the time. In the canon of Liam Neeson action films, it's definitely a fun one.

Taken 2: Unrated Cut (2012) Review

Series: Taken (2/3)

Version: Unrated Cut

Director: Olivier Megaton

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

Country: France / United States

Taken 2 is a decent action sequel along the lines of Under Siege 2, Mission Impossible 2, Death Wish 2, Return of the Seven, or Iron Man 2. They are all decent sequels that do a decent job as a follow up but in no way equal or surpass the first film in its franchise.  I don't hate any of these sequels either. To me, they exist, provide us a reason to watch the protagonists kick more butt, and help us the viewer pass the time with a nice and simple film that won't challenge us in any way. However, when compared to their predecessors, they do not make the same big splash in any way, shape, or form.

Taken 2 is exactly that; a simple, decent, flawed, but serviceable sequel. In the pantheon of action films, Taken 2 is white noise. However, if you are a die hard action fan like I am, you can't ignore a sequel to one of the best action films in years. And here I am now, ready to review the film for you. Aren't you so lucky?

Some nice father/daughter bonding time.

Taken 2 takes place what seems to be a few months after the first film? I can't really tell. Anyways, after the events of the first film (Neeson's daughter was kidnapped, he tracked the captors down, and killed them all nice and simple), Neeson can't stop being over protective of his daughter. When he hears that she is at her boyfriend's house instead of being ready for her driver's test, he goes on over to that guy's house and barges in! Poor Bryan Mills (Neeson's character) just wants to be a good dad but can't realize when he should be giving someone their distance. Besides, his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) was sold as a sex slave. I think even I would be overprotective of my daughter if something that traumatizing occurred.

Anyways,  Lenore's (Bryan's ex-wife played by Famke Janssen) current husband leaves her and Kim for no reason at all really. He simply drives away and we as an audience are given no reason why. I like to think that he realized how badass Liam Neeson is and chose to get out of there before Neeson snapped his neck one day, but probably not. Anyways, Bryan offers the family the chance to come on vacation with him after he is done working in Istanbul. What seems like a great vacation immediately goes down the crapper as the father (Rade Serbedzija) of one of the men killed in the first film now wants his revenge for his son's death. Bryan now has to try and protect his family as he himself is taken. What follows is a mediocre and decent action film that only die hard action fans will find pleasure in.

Rade "Always The Bad Guy" Serbedzija

The first problem with Taken 2 is its editing, photography, and directing. Director Olivier Megaton, editors Camile Delamarre and Vincent Tabaillon, and cinematographer Romain Lacourbas cannot create exciting or effective action sequences. The shots are too close up and the cuts are far too rapid. The action scenes are extremely difficult to make out.

Take the first action scene for example. As Bryan Mills runs from some bad guys, he eventually runs into a handful of them in a small opening amongst the tight alleys of Istanbul. The men than have a night stick fight with Bryan. Liam Neeson has never appeared slower than ever before! Go back and watch some of the melee fights in the first Taken. Liam Neeson appears so skilled! In Taken 2 though, he looks like a novice fighter! What happened in between these two films? Did Neeson forget his training?

Another major problem with the film is that the final action scene is a lame fist fight between Bryan and Murad's right hand man. This scene is so boring! I know that older American actors cannot usually perform such intricate fight sequences, but this is just your basic punch-stab-block routine. It doesn't help that the fight is cutting every hundreth of a second either! It's the kind of fight that you would find in a DTV Steven Seagal flick, not a Taken movie.

First Kimmy and now Lenore? Bryan can't catch a break.

I think the film's biggest error occurs around the one hour mark. After a decent car chase, Bryan Mills has to crash his way into an American Embassy. As soon as Bryan Mills is officially safe and on U.S. soil, the very next scene cuts to Bryan in a black leather jacket walking around the city looking for his kidnapped wife. Why does the film skip such a huge portion of the film? This entire film takes place over the course of a few hours, and we have been with these characters every step of the way. And for some reason, the film skips a giant gap of time that could provide us viewers with a breather and than immediately plunges us right back into badass Neeson mode. I thought this was truly the film's biggest error and it is completely unforgivable for a film that has been all about how Liam Neeson's methods and skills get him through his problems. This problem of dealing with the U.S. embassy is completely skipped and makes me question how the writers could write such an error into the film.

After all of my bad mouthing, you may think I really dislike this film. On the contrary, for all of its flaws, I found this to be a pretty enjoyable action sequel. Liam Neeson is just as great as ever as Bryan Mills, the one dad that you do not want to mess with. He still gets to use really unique skills of his to solve his problems. I really enjoyed each reveal of Neeson's skills throughout. All of the supporting cast do a serviceable job, especially Rade Serbedziga. Rade is one of the most recognizable character actors in film and T.V. While Rade did not have great material to work with here, it was nice to have a single solitary villain for a Taken film.

This guy on the left doesn't realize it's Neeson Season.

The film also has a cool shootout right at the very end. Bryan Mills has to work his way through an abandoned apartment complex and shoot and stab every bad guy he comes across. I love action scenes like this and found the set up for this one to be pretty awesome. The Unrated Cut of this film adds lots of blood during scenes like this. Therefore, the Unrated Cut is the way to go when watching any Taken film. I also loved all of the dark colors through the film. The colors in Taken are pretty bright and loud. This film on the other hand tones all of the colors down to a very dark level. I find the subject matter of both Taken films to be very dark and serious. Therefore, I thought this was a big upgrade in the sequel that I really enjoyed. 

As most action films go, our action icon normally beats up and/or kills a lot of baddies. Unlike the first Taken, Bryan Mills only kills a small handful of bad guys. He nearly goes on a massacre in the first film. In Taken 2, he only has a small group of bad guys to deal with; and not various groups or an entire organization of women traffickers like in Taken.

I also enjoyed seeing Bryan's daughter Kim have to actually help him get out of his captivity in this film. Instead of just being the captive, Kim has to work with her dad on the phone and help get him his weapons to him. The film also ends on a note that sets up an obvious sequel. With Taken 3 currently in pre-production, time can only tell how good it will be. As a die hard action fanatic, I look forward to it anyway.

My favorite cap of the film.

So is Taken 2 worth watching? I'll break it down like this. If you are a die hard action fan like me, check it out. Even though you will be mostly disappointed, any chance to watch Neeson kick butt and nab a body count is always a treat. However, the film is a major step down in quality in contrast to the excellent Pierre Morel Taken. I recommend checking out this film only as a rental and in preparation for the eventual Taken 3 (also directed by Oliver Megaton, oh boy).

Rating: 6/10 - Taken 2 is a decent action sequel that suffers from poor editing and weak plotting. Only the film's lead performance, dark color palette, and final shootout leave me wanting to revisit the flick.

Best Kill / Beatdown: I love when one of the bad guys tries to kick at Bryan. Bryan catches the guy's foot and than shoots into it 3 times!

Best Performance: Neeson, who else?

Best Action Scene: Definitely the abandoned building shootout. Bryan racks up his biggest kill count here and fires a whole lot of bullets. None of these guys stand a chance, it's Liam Neeson for goodness sakes!