Ridiculous movie. Badly researched. Wooden acting. Pah! An hour and a half of my life that i will never get back!

Rating: 2/10 (15 October 2012)

I was so excited about the prospect of seeing this movie as i had thoroughly enjoyed Taken but Taken 2 but a huge disappointment.
I thought the acting was terrible. The intimacy/connection between the mum, dad and daughter seemed ever so fake.
Having been to Turkey a number of times, i have no idea why they would pretend that Albania borders on to Turkey when it does not. As other reviewers have said, the police cars were ancient relics which have been decommissioned for decades...
The actors playing Turkish people clearly should have been better researched. I have been to Istanbul a number of times and women appearing head-to-toe in a burqa is certainly NOT the norm. Many observant Turkish Muslim women dress in tesettür, a head-scarves and light cover-all topcoat, when going out in public. This satisfies the Islamic admonition to modest dress without infringing Turkish law which prohibits religious dress in public places.
You may see women in burqa (full-body covering, with veil), but they will probably be visitors from other countries with a stricter interpretation of Islamic dress traditions. The veil is actually outlawed in Turkey (but the law is little enforced), and even the wearing of head-scarves in secular contexts (universities, government offices, etc.) is controversial. The films depiction of Istanbul is VERY far from the true image. European dress styles prevail for sure.
Towards the end, Lenore (the mum) falls in and out of consciousness about 15 times. It is completely unrealistic.
Kim (the daughter) who has yet to pass her driving test in the US, is suddenly an expert at driving with a gear stick and performs some truly remarkable stunts around the narrowest streets of Istanbul. Again, completely unbelievable. Never mind the distance she ran over various roofs and no one stopped her or the fact that she sent a number of grenades exploding in one of the busiest cities and one of the busiest tourist hot spots in the world.
Bryan (the dad) performs his usual fantastic fight scenes and is cool throughout his interactions with the horrible Albanian family who have returned to seek their revenge. The whole thing with the daughters new boyfriend was unnecessary, but i did wonder throughout the movie whether he would somehow be linked to the Albanian family...
The ending is somewhat predictable but i'll let you discover that on your own.
In summary, I feel it was very badly researched and was somewhat rushed. The first movie was fantastic and Taken 2 was truly abysmal. Liam Neeson's fight scenes are the only part of the movie worth watching. Oh and visit Istanbul for yourself. It really is a fantastic city.