Some Questionable Direction but Overall It's Good

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2012)

Taken 2 (2012)
*** (out of 4)
Retired CIA man Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) takes his wife (Famke Janssen) and daughter (Maggie Grace) on a vacation when they come under attack from a father (Rade Serbedzija) whose son was killed by Mills in the first film. TAKEN 2, like many sequels, is a major step down from the first movie and I'd say the main motive here was to make money, which the film did, and while it's not as good as the original I still think there are enough strong elements to make it worth viewing. The biggest is of course Neeson who once again does a very good job with the role of father doing what he can to protect his daughter. I liked how such a strong actor like Neeson can keep that strength even in a "B" movie like this one. There's no question that he can be believable during the action scenes but he's also incredibly strong in the more dramatic moments where he's pretty much laying down the law in what he's about to do. Both Grace and Janssen are good in their roles and we even get D.B. Sweeney in a small part. Serbedzija is also extremely good (and fun) in his role as the grieving father seeking revenge. The movie contains some nice tension throughout its final hour and this includes a nice little twist at the end. The one major issue comes from director Olivier Megaton who was simply trying to be way too stylish early on with the quick edits. This is especially true during the sequence where Neeson gets taken as it's nearly impossible to clearly see anything that was going on. I was worried this was going to continue throughout the film but thankfully it didn't. TAKEN 2 isn't a perfect film but I think fans of the first should be entertained by it.