Good Action, But Extremely Implausible And Nowhere Near As Good As The Original

Rating: 5/10 (1 September 2013)

As others (many others) have noted, "Taken 2" doesn't even come close to being as good as "Taken." And, as others (many others) have noted, the movie is weakened badly by the unbelievability of much of what happens. There were several, but really three things stuck with me most. At the beginning of the movie, during the funeral scene, why are Albanians speaking Arabic? I get that they're Muslims (of course) and I understand that the Koran isn't considered the true Koran unless it's read in Arabic, but why would Albanians speak Arabic as a matter of routine? They'd speak Albanian in every day life. Then I wondered, why is there a U.S. Embassy in Istanbul? Istanbul isn't the capital of Turkey - Ankara is. The U.S. Embassy in Turkey would be in Ankara. There'd probably be a U.S. consulate in Istanbul, but the building (when we see it) is clearly marked as the Embassy. Finally, Kim (Maggie Grace)- who was the object of her dad's search in "Taken" and who couldn't pass a driving test back home in California - sure did a pretty good job driving through the crowded streets of Istanbul! There are other things that didn't make a lot of sense, but those were the things that really stood out to me.
Now, having said that, if you can suspend your disbelief this is a pretty decent action movie. There are some great chase scenes (including the one in which Kim is inexplicably pulling off some pretty fancy moves), and some pretty good fight scenes. Liam Neeson, who reprised the role of Bryan, seems (somehow) to take the whole thing quite seriously. I thought the movie was rather slow starting but once the action started it had a certain fun quality to it. Its main problem is that it's just not as good as the original. (5/10)