Not bad for a sequel

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2012)

How do you come back from the worst experience in your life? Therapy, denial, maybe some substance abuse? What if, after a relatively short amount of time, you're flung back into a very similar circumstance? I don't imagine that would help.
Sometime after returning to the relative safety of Los Angeles, Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson), his ex-wife Lenore (played by Famke Janssen) and their daughter Kim (played by Maggie Grace) are still rebounding from the trauma they suffered. Bryan (Neeson) arrives at Kim's home to give her a driving lesson only to be informed that she is not even in the house. She's with her boyfriend. A boyfriend Bryan knew nothing about, no less. Simultaneously, in Tropoje, Albania, Murad Hoxha, father of deceased kidnapper and human trafficker Marko Hoxha, is attending a funeral service being conducted for his son and his accomplices. Murad (played by Rade Serbedzija) vows to avenge the deaths of his son and his friends. After hearing that a planned vacation to China is cancelled by Lenore's now estranged husband, Bryan invites both Kim and Lenore to join him on a business trip in Istanbul once he's fulfilled his professional obligations. They arrive sooner than expected and, unbeknownst to them, followed by Murad's henchman. Following a family lunch in the marketplace, Kim returns to the hotel. It's immediately apparent to Bryan and Lenore that their daughter hopes privacy and the exotic locale will rekindle feelings of love in her long-divorced parents. While romance does seem to be in bloom between the couple, it is abruptly halted when Murad and his men make their play for the Mills family.
Now, I was and still am a huge fan of the 2008 film. I believe Neeson took a film that would've seemed dull and uninspired in the hands of Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, or any other contemporary action star and elevated it beyond the material. This film, while entertaining and plausible enough for an action/adventure, is the lesser of the two. Of course, there's the fact that it's more of the same and, therefore, less interesting. In addition, while the original depended on Neeson's estimable talent, this film relies heavily on Maggie Grace. A competent actress, sure, but nowhere near as good as Liam Neeson. I enjoyed it about as much as I expected to. That's it.