Disappointed, but expected.

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2012)

Let's get this out of the way now. Taken is my favourite film. Ever. So I went into Taken 2 to with expectations; they'd have to up the ante, and not destroy the brand.
Taken 2 sits somewhere in the middle of that. The first half of the film tries to build on the characters of Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), estranged wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). This half of the film really works, investing you in the characters, even if there are few holes here and there. It really gets you feeling for the characters when the action gets going. Sadly when the action does kick in, it doesn't deliver. New director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3, Colombiana), who has taken over from the brilliant Pierre Morel, directs with the subtlety of a brick thrown at a glass window. From poorly executed shots, to overly shaky camera work & way too many cuts, the violence and shock of these actions seen in Taken 1 is lost in this film. This also probably has to do with the producers' choice to lower the rating from MA15+ to M15 (or PG13 in America). Their reason for this is to "broaden the audience", but seeing as the first one is so violent and how you need to see the first one to understand what the hell is going on in Taken 2, this is a stupid move as the kids watching won't be allowed to see the first! Another thing which really bugged me was the colour grading; when Bryan was with his family it was nice and bright, but when we were with the villain (Rade Serbedgia), the film had this overly dark grey look to it which just said "HE'S A GOOD GUY AND HE'S A BAD GUY!!!"
I wasn't expecting much from director Olivier Megaton, whose only other films, The Transporter 3 and Colombiana, both of which are pretty average. But I was expecting a lot more from Luc Besson as producer and writer. I enjoyed the first half of the film, it showed love for the original and really built on the characters, perhaps too much. But sadly I was incredibly disappointed with the second half which was poorly executed and left me thinking "Really? Is that it?"
7/10