Too many cuts

Rating: 5/10 (7 October 2012)

OK, everyone knows that Taken is best on video where it has an UK 18 cert rather than the softer 15 shown in cinemas. But the cinema cut was still fine; a good, hard action film. So why on earth have the producers of Taken 2 chosen to take it from a 15 down to a 12A for UK cinema release? The cuts are painfully obvious, to the point where some of the action no longer makes sense, and the soundtrack is woefully anaemic. Performances are largely good and the use of Istanbul is impressive - one hopes that Skyfall gets as much out of the city as Taken 2 has. It's a little vaguely plotted and its not really clear if the villains are really as bad as the ones in the first film or just driven by vengeance. I'll see it again if it's released uncut on video but the film is disappointing in the cinema; all the more so because the good action film it could have been is still visible but drowning beneath a sea of cuts.