They should have left Bryan Mills alone

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2012)

"Taken" is a fun movie. It introduced Liam Neeson as an action hero and it shed light on one of Europe's bleakest and most disturbing crimes. "Taken" also presented itself as a stand-alone movie that did not leave any evidence or room for a sequel. If another Taken were to be made, it would either be a simple rendition of the previous film or something completely different. "Taken 2" fulfills the former.
Following the events of the first film, a father of one of the Albanian traffickers that Bryan Mills (Neeson) tortured and killed seeks vengeance upon him. On vacation with his ex-wife (Famke Jansen) and daughter (Maggie Grace), the Albanians strike—kidnapping Mills and his ex. For the rest of the movie, it becomes a deadly game as Mills fights to save his family from the Albanians. The story is pretty straightforward and as the audience, we anticipate the outcome. However, we still enjoy the ride as the hero takes on 20 or so bad guys.
There are some things that are better in this Taken. For one, there is a solid villain, played well by Croatian actor Rade Serbedzija. He is known in Hollywood as portraying evil Russians and he is up on his game in this movie. Even so, he seems to have more leeway in his performance than any other role I have watched him in—for his character requires a bit more on an emotional level. He is not entirely bad nor is he good; he simply wants to avenge is family, which is understandable. Maggie Grace is given much more screen time and pulls off well as a brave heroine in the face of impending peril and death. There are also some thoroughly entertaining action sequences that seem to dwarf the original—one particular sequence has Mills and his daughter zooming through Istanbul in a taxi, all the while being pursued by police cars and baddies; narrowly missing death on multiple occasions and wreaking havoc on a city wide scale.
"Taken 2" certainly fulfills the entertainment department, yet it is not as fun as the original. This maybe because the first film is a one of a kind in the action/revenge genre. In my opinion, it is due to Neeson's performance. He was so intense, passionate and meticulous in the first film, that we rooted for him to slaughter the bad guys. Though the same character in "Taken 2," he is not as much of a driving force. He seemed a bit distant and a little too complacent, as if he was acting at arms length rather than immersing himself into his character. For me, this is a downer.
Director Olivier Megaton runs into the issue of overdoing the hand-held camera. While this can be tastefully done, the videography was a bit a dizzy in most of the hand-to-hand fight scenes. This may have been done to maintain a PG-13 rating and hide Neeson's stunt double, but for an action junkie like myself, it ruins the fun. I like to see gritty fights and not have to be left in a haze of wondering who is getting their face punched or neck broken.
"Taken 2" is not all bad nor is it up there with the original. In all honesty, they should have left Bryan Mills alone.