Clumsy, Ploddy Summer Sequel

Rating: 5/10 (30 January 2013)

Following the events of the first film, Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) is in Istanbul, Turkey with his ex-wife (Famke Jansenn) and daughter (Maggie Grace) when the vengeful father (Rade Sherbedjia) of one of Mills' victims from the first film arrives with a group of armed men to "take" them all. Hilarity ensues.
Pass the popcorn and drink your soda, "Taken 2" is as clumsy and ploddy as the first was intelligent and fresh. This summer sequel was made to give people an excuse to sit in an air-conditioned room to get their bodies and minds out of the heat. Friends of mine that enjoyed it saw it when they were wearing shorts. Perhaps the fact that I watched it in the winter made me enjoy it less.
Neeson is as good as he always is, returning to his mystical role as a fatherly badass perpetually ready to dole out some deserved punishment to whoever is unlucky enough to want to do him harm. But his eyes are a little more dim, his movements a little less tense. It's the little things that convey to the audience that his heart just isn't in this one.
Famke Jansenn and Maggie Grace, both stunningly beautiful women, hold this guy viewer's attention about as much as Neeson. They play the women in this man's lives with as much bravado as they can manage in their mostly listless lines. Rade Sherbedjia, the usual stock Eastern-European baddie, definitely chews the most scenery in a very good performance.
Having been to Turkey and Istanbul a couple of times, I can say without any doubt that the nation seen in this movie is markedly different than the real one. The Turkish people are wonderfully kind and the country is as beautiful as anything in Europe. If you're seeing this film because you've seen the real thing, be ready for as much disappointment as bummer.
I didn't have too much fun writing this. I would have had more fun watching "Taken 2" again. Perhaps that is as good as an analogy as I can think of to both end this review and offer my warning.