Did anybody edit this movie?

Rating: 5/10 (18 October 2012)

Taken was a surprisingly good film. Original, suspenseful, well-acted, well-written, well-directed. Taken 2 is about as original as it's title. It's fun, in parts. It's an OK way to kill a few hours. But it's not at all well-done. I'm wishing I went to Argo instead. There are so many editing errors that I don't even know where to begin. It's like they just threw this thing together and didn't put much effort or thought into it. Most of the characters seem to just walk through their lines. The dialog is forced and contrived. The writing is just plain bad. Even the bad guys have cheesy lines. If you need mindless entertainment, it's OK. If you are looking for a good sequel to a good movie (which didn't need a sequel), then this is not it.
Spoilers ahead -- I'm going to name the BIGGEST, GROSSEST errors in editing that I have ever seen in a movie. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head: 1. The daughter fails a US driving test twice driving an 'easy' Camry with an automatic transmission. Later on she's driving a foreign car through the streets of a foreign country like a stunt driver -- with a stick-shift.
2. The mother was cut in the neck (jugular) and left hanging upside down with a hood on to bleed out. Blood was coming through the hood. Liam said she was going to bleed out in less than 30 mins - meaning there was going to be a lot of blood if he didn't get to her. A whole body's worth... Later and through most of the rest of the movie, she's passed out from blood loss. When the hood comes off, no blood on her face or hair, and she doesn't bleed any more through the rest of the movie. She would not even need a Band-Aid with the little bit of blood on her cheek.
3. The father tells the daughter to throw down her phone and run. She does, then she has her phone later.
4. They drive through gunfire, a few vehicles, and a small building to get to the front lawn of the US Embassy. They had hit several vehicles and got broadsided by an SUV in the process. When they get to the Embassy lawn, not only are the guards not shooting anymore or rushing the car, the car doesn't even have a dent in it and Liam has time to make a phone call and has a lengthy conversation with his daughter.
5. A moment after driving through the guard shack of the US Embassy, Liam is walking around town alone (not arrested or even questioned) looking for the bad guys.
6. The giant briefcase in the hotel full of guns and grenades isn't explained -- At least I didn't catch it.
7. The daughter detonates grenades on top of buildings in a populated city and no one even walks out or calls the police.
8. Dad tells daughter to find him by 'looking for steam' and she finds him by coincidentally walking up to a rooftop metal pipe with steam coming out of it... like there aren't a hundred of those in a city like this?
9. With all the car chasing, grenades, gunfire and chaos, no police were seen in the whole movie.
10. Liam is kidnapped with no jacket, then has a cool leather coat after escaping...Where did he get it?
11. Vehicles were driving maybe 40mph, hitting each other practically head-on and magically flipping through the air.
12. Isn't 11 enough? You pick one... I'm sure you would see some I didn't list. There has to be more.
There were more -- This is just what I can remember off the top of my head. So many of them, it got to be funny and took away from the few redeeming qualities of the movie.
Bottom Line -- I've seen worse. It's not horrible. But when I can spot such blatant editorial mistakes like this, it made me stop paying attention to the movie and looking for other mistakes -- Like a game. If you need time to kill, it's got some entertainment value. If you love Taken and are hoping for a good sequel, skip it. Don't even rent it. It isn't here.