The original Taken
was the surprise hit of 2008, pulling in over $226 million off a meager budget
of $25 million. The film reeled in mainstream audiences through their primal
anxieties of xenophobia and white girl peril, then unleashed righteous fury in
the form of Liam Neeson. As former CIA agent, Bryan Mills, the Irish-born
thespian cut a path of brutal vengeance on the ring of human traffickers that
took his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).
It's understandable that Bryan would have a hard time
letting go, especially when Kim blows off driving lessons to be with her
boyfriend (Luke Grimes). These aren't evasive driving maneuvers, just plain old
driving lessons because Kim doesn't have a license yet. Never mind that Maggie
Grace is almost 30 and too old to be playing naïve high schooler. In any event,
Bryan gets a security gig in Istanbul for a wealthy potentate when ex-wife,
Lenore (Famke Janssen), and Kim pay him a surprise visit. Unbeknownst to them,
Albanian gangsters, led by Murad (Rade Serbedzija) are en route to seek revenge
for the deaths of their brothers and sons from the first film.
The screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen is either
brilliantly stripped down or lazily slapped together. There's a slight twist on
the basic concept with the parents being taken and Bryan making the ominous
call to Kim, who must locate the bad guys' hideout. In the silliest sequence of
Taken 2, Kim runs around the rooftops
of Istanbul lobbing live grenades so her dad can use the sound of explosions to
triangulate his position. You'd think an American blowing shit up would raise a
few red flags. At one point, Bryan casually guns down a crooked police officer.
Sure, he may have been dirty, but murdering a cop still has dire consequences. However,
Taken 2 isn't concerned with logic.
There's no time for that nonsense when there are unwashed scumbags with funny
accents to kill.
From there, the sequel descends into a non-stop stream of indiscernible
action. Besson protégé Olivier Megaton turns every fight scene and shootout
into a series of abstract images thanks to an overuse of shaky cam and choppy
editing. Megaton also directed Transporter 3, the worst of the series, and Colombiana,
which is just as ridiculous, yet far more entertaining. Car chases (those
driving lessons from the opening are going to come up again, right?) are unremarkably
rendered with Bryan shouting such encouragements as, "Move it, Kim" and "You
can do it." Speaking of driving, someone in the Besson camp must have
just seen Drive because Taken 2 lifts almost directly from the
Nicolas Winding Refn film. Kim listens to College's "Real Hero" on
her iPhone while Chromatics' "Tick of the Clock" is used for a tense
scene in which Kim waits for her father in a getaway car.
Taken 2 fits the
bill of easily digestible popcorn entertainment. Perfect for anyone who wants to watch Qui-Gon Jinn fight Boris the Blade.
Rating: ** (*****)
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