Viewers are Taken for a ride.

Rating: 2/10 (3 October 2012)

THE Islamophobia is toned down in French director Olivier Megaton's senior-citizen action thriller Taken 2. Liam Neeson still gets to whip the behinds of Albanian Muslim villains, but his character also gets to show off his gentle side, including teaching his teen daughter how to drive.
In fact, retired CIA agent Bryan Mills spends quite a bit of of time comforting his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) deal with problems arising from her second marriage. Lenore still wants to get it on with him. Bryan, however, is more interested in their daughter Kim's (Maggie Grace) boyfriend and teaching her how to pass her driving exam.
In the meantime, the Albanians, whose kids or relatives were killed by Bryan in the first movie written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen four years ago, vow to avenge their deaths.
The writing duo don't let the Albanians down. They concoct a plan to let the Albanians, led by Murad (Rade Serbedzija), capture Bryan, his ex- wife and daughter in Istanbul.
Bryan had invited them there after the ex-wife's second husband had suddenly cancelled travel plans. What the second husband would think of his family's sudden excursion to Istanbul is not revealed.
The villains do get to kidnap Bryan and Lenore, but not before they let Kim, who's wearing a red bikini top, escape from their clutches in a hotel. In fact, the bumbling villains had already let their presence be spotted by our dear hero in the hotel and, later, in a busy market.
The villains put a hood over Bryan but he can counts stops and streets. He also listens to the environment (dogs barking and man playing a violin) while they take him and Lenore to a warehouse.
Their desire for revenge must have been so strong that they forgot to search him. If they did, they'd have found a small cellphone hidden on him.
Bryan then uses the device to talk with his daughter, and in the movie's most ingenious scene, he tells her to use a shoelace, pen and map to find his whereabouts.
Of yeah, he also tells her to lob a few grenades, thinking that no one in this huge historical city, which I visited two years ago, would notice the plumes of smoke and carnage caused his by travel activities.
Bryan escapes but not before there's running over the city's rooftops. Why is running on rooftops so popular in movies? It was also deemed necessary in Bourne Legacy and Total Recall recently.
Bryan then retraces his steps (using his extra-sensory powers, and the fortunate luck of hearing the same dogs barking and the same violinist playing) to find where he was hidden. Why would he do this? Wouldn't he have recognised the place he escaped from?
I'd have thought that the villains had learnt their lesson from Bryan escaping from their warehouse, but they're still nonchalant about it. For example, they're still engrossed in watching soccer on TV and one villain even turns his back towards the main gate while smoking. Heck, they didn't even lock it.
The film focuses quite a bit on Bryan and his family to allow our dear ex-CIA agent to go on a rampage without feeling guilty.
The editing is cut quickly and interspersed with fast music, including soaring violin tunes.
The action, including the shoot-outs, car chase and close combat, is ordinary. Neeson, Janssen and Grace's acting is commendable but they're stuck in bad script.
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