Taken 2 Far?

Rating: 7/10 (22 December 2012)

Essentially a rehash of the first movie that seems to lack that films' pervasive sense of malevolence, danger, urgency and visceral gut-punch. This sequel is more of a by-the-numbers action workout that is a bit less coherent and engaging.
That said, I don't think it quite deserved the stomping it got from the critics. It's well choreographed, the chases are quite exhilarating, and the shaky-cam is not really all that intrusive or troublesome. Cinematography is crisp and clear. Script and dialogue are as baseline functional and brain-dead as one would expect and there are no artistic pretensions whatsoever about the project. Although the violence is somewhat less explicit this time, it remains pleasingly jarring and bone-crunching, so the lack of a prohibitive adult rating is not missed overmuch.
Liam Neeson remains a class act throughout and as an exercise in watching a superb performer in action man mode capping lots of sleazy foreign types it does the business with some skill. Let's face it, the xenophobe in all of us is catered for admirably and the motif of a lone hero blowing loads of swarthy scumbags to kingdom come is an action movie staple that has some lasting appeal. So there's that main attraction.
If you liked the first, chances are you'll get some mileage out of this even though the basic premise seems to be running out of road. I do think a third entry in the series might be pushing it.