Terrible, terrible movie!

Rating: 2/10 (16 January 2013)

I saw Taken when it came out in 2008 and I thought it was very, very well made and acted. The same CANNOT be said about Taken 2. This movie is absolutely terrible. i could criticize almost every aspect of the movie but I wouldn't want to bore the masses. Let me "lowlight" some of the unintentional hilarity of this drama. first and foremost, newly estranged ex-wife Famke Jannsen who was a total jerk to Liam is now sad but flirty to Liam - it does not come across as believable at all. Liam is still watching his daughter like a hawk (kind of creepy actually) and shows up at her boyfriends door unannounced and refuses to acknowledge the boyfriend at all - even when he introduces himself. The daughter can't pass her DMV exam ( 2 failures) yet in Istanbul she drives a taxi better than the keystone Turkish cops chasing -in old 70's junkers no less! Since when do woman in Turkey wear Burkas? This movie does all i can to make Istanbul look like a slum - it's outrageous and wrong. There is nothing credible about the plot. When Liam and now amorous ex Famke get chased by Albanians who seem to speak a lot of English, Liam gives her verbal instructions in a seedy area that are so ridiculous - you would think he had grown up in that exact neighborhood. Laughable. The worst part of this stinker is when the now intrepid and fearless daughter - the same one who couldn't pass her DMV test, is walking on thin ledges on buildings, jumping roof tops and - are you ready - throwing hand grenades all over Istanbul in the most far fetched belief that hostage superman Liam will hear the explosion and guide super-daughter to his dungeon. Suspending all realms of belief - it works!! With dads "McGyver" super agent cell phone he had hidden on him he's been in perfectly clear reception and she is guided to the old steam pipe on the roof and drops a gun down the pipe which lands perfectly at dads feet. Did you get that? This movie puts 007 to shame, making James Bond look very, very pedestrian. Of course the thugs are menacing at first, then descend into a bunch of idiots then transform into machine gun toting morons who cant Liam if he was standing still. Crashing a stolen taxi thru ( literally ) the gates of the US Embassy - with every guard firing machine guns is no big deal for Liam and daughter. One call to his spy buddy in the states and it's back to mayhem on the Bosphorus!! The predicable ending indicates there may be a Taken 3 made. The movie begins and ends in California and has one of the sappiest soundtracks I've ever heard. TERRIBLE.