Review: Taken 2
Liam Neeson was in a rut. He was cast as a father figure in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He was cast as a weary and wise king of the jungle in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Just to top the typecasting off, he was cast as a physical and psychological mentor to Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins.
So he must have been as surprised as everybody else when 2008's Taken turned him into an action superstar overnight. Featuring a brilliant plot, a man's race against time to save his daughter when she is kidnapped overseas; excellent action scenes and chases through foreign streets; and of course one of the most iconic monologues in cinema history ("I will find you. And I will kill you."), Taken was a surprise hit.
Critics scoffed at the idea of a sequel, however. "Taken 2? She's been taken again? Worst. Parenting. Ever." The film does not follow the same formula as its predecessor though. This time, while on holiday in Istanbul, Neeson's Bryan and his wife have been captured and it's up to his daughter to save them instead.
The main plot revolves around the vengeful dad of one of the Balkan goons who Bryan brutally disposed of in his previous endeavours. "We will have our revenge," he swears as he lowers his son's body into the grave. Meanwhile, Bryan is in Istanbul and is surprised to find his daughter Kim and his ex-wife Lanore there to greet him. A family reunion ensues, however it is (eventually - yawn) cut short when Bryan and Lenore are "taken" and it's up to Kim to rescue them.
From then on it's Bourne-style business as usual, with rooftop chases, ledge dangling and shootouts galore. Yet something just doesn't feel right.
Taken earned a 15-certificate for its "strong violence and scenes of torture." This was then bumped up to an 18 for the DVD as more scenes of bloodshed and gore were chucked in.
Taken 2, however, sits soundly at a 12A - a move made, no doubt, by the movie executives rubbing their hands together at the thought of a wider audience. As a result, Taken 2 loses its originality and its impact. Bullets enter walls rather than flesh, blades are brandished instead of used and a scene in which a character's throat is slit is simply implied rather than shown. The original would have laughed at our squeamish ways and focused the camera brutally on the death.
Neeson excels, however, and let's face it - he's the reason we're all watching. His screen presence is such that Bryan becomes a hugely likable character. We feel admiration for him and his skills as in one scene, with a bag over his head and certain death looming, Bryan counts to himself as he blindly tracks the duration, speed and distance that his captors are dragging him which then allows Kim to interfere. The super-spy elements are written well, even if they are a little predictable and run-of-the-mill.
Yet that makes the villains seem even more ridiculous. The vast majority of them are basic disposable fodder, and even more of them are as thick as two short planks. At least in the first film his enemies had some decent martial artistic skills and were a pretty decent shot - Taken 2 seems more like a video game set on "easy" mode where the bad guys have unbelievably terrible aim. The climax of the film is hugely disappointing too and amounts to little more than a conversation, but for the sake of spoilers this shall be left undisclosed.
From then on it's Bourne-style business as usual, with rooftop chases, ledge dangling and shootouts galore. Yet something just doesn't feel right.
Taken earned a 15-certificate for its "strong violence and scenes of torture." This was then bumped up to an 18 for the DVD as more scenes of bloodshed and gore were chucked in.
Taken 2, however, sits soundly at a 12A - a move made, no doubt, by the movie executives rubbing their hands together at the thought of a wider audience. As a result, Taken 2 loses its originality and its impact. Bullets enter walls rather than flesh, blades are brandished instead of used and a scene in which a character's throat is slit is simply implied rather than shown. The original would have laughed at our squeamish ways and focused the camera brutally on the death.
Neeson excels, however, and let's face it - he's the reason we're all watching. His screen presence is such that Bryan becomes a hugely likable character. We feel admiration for him and his skills as in one scene, with a bag over his head and certain death looming, Bryan counts to himself as he blindly tracks the duration, speed and distance that his captors are dragging him which then allows Kim to interfere. The super-spy elements are written well, even if they are a little predictable and run-of-the-mill.Yet that makes the villains seem even more ridiculous. The vast majority of them are basic disposable fodder, and even more of them are as thick as two short planks. At least in the first film his enemies had some decent martial artistic skills and were a pretty decent shot - Taken 2 seems more like a video game set on "easy" mode where the bad guys have unbelievably terrible aim. The climax of the film is hugely disappointing too and amounts to little more than a conversation, but for the sake of spoilers this shall be left undisclosed.
Summary
Taken was no masterpiece, but it succeeded as an exciting vehicle for Neeson, the dormant action star just waiting to burst on to our screens. The film still had a drive and a sense of urgency that spurred us on to the edge of our seats as we watched a father do anything to save his daughter, an urgency that is missing in its sequel. So it's a shame that, despite Neeson's best ass-kicking efforts and some cool but predictable action scenes, Taken 2 fails to live up to its predecessor - in fact, it fails to live up to most modern action films at all.
3/10 - One for the rental list.
See it if you liked: Taken (2008), Live Free Or Die Hard (2007), Unknown (2011)
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