Another Day at the Office for Neeson

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2012)

Taken 2 begins in the aftermath of the first Taken. Neeson has returned home with his rescued daughter and they both are trying to adjust to normal life. However, back in Albanian, Neeson has ruffled quite a few feathers. Apparently, you can't slay a bunch of people and expect to get away Scott-free. You see, ladies and gentleman, Taken 2 teaches us that Albanian sex-traffickers are people too, and their families do in fact, get angry when you end their lives.
So with vengeance in their hearts, the fathers/bosses of the slain concoct a plan to kidnap Neeson AND his family (i.e his daughter Kim and ex-wife Lenore)....mistake number one. Let's take a second and look at Neeson's track record (his previous movies): Neeson trained Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) Obi Wan and Darth Vader (Star Wars). He was Zeus (Clash of the Titans) and Aslan (Narnia) which makes him a god in two different religions. His hobbies include punching wolves (The Grey) and being a bad-ass Colonel (A-team). Not to mention that he just killed all of their youthful sons. So maybe, just maybe, these guys should have just sat down and reevaluated their plans for handling the situation. But of course they didn't.
With their judgment clouded by anger, the Albanians set their plan in motion and they actually manage to kidnap Neeson and Lenore, however they fail to capture Neeson's daughter, Kim (thank god because I think she went through enough the first time). The Albanians second mistake came when they forgot to search Neeson...Neeson concealed a small mini phone in his sock. Once he got free, Neeson used the device to direct Kim to his location and give him a gun. It was basically game over from there on out.
The rest of the movie consisted of all too familiar fight scenes where Neeson made the Albanians look like a bunch of 5th graders fresh out of their first karate class.
Despite this movie having a lot of similarities to the first, I thought there were some key differences. The biggest one was the tone of the movie. In the first movie, Neeson was spurred on by a burning passion to rescue his helpless and beloved daughter, he seemed to have more fire burning in his heart then. In the second movie, the kidnapping just seemed like an inconvenience. The "bad guys" presented no challenges for Neeson (for gods sake they didn't even listen to their own guard dog, which was their third and final strike) and it looked as though it was just another day at the office for him. In the movie Bryan (Neeson) even explained how he was tired of it all and that all he wanted to do was go home. The second difference was that the portrayal of Kim as the innocent daughter didn't cut it anymore. Maybe it was the fact that she was tossing grenades left and right. Or perhaps it was the fact that even though she failed her drivers test twice she still managed to out maneuver the local Albanians on foreign streets, and despite being shot at, got to the embassy in one piece.
Over all, nothing unexpected happened in this movie, it was just a solid follow-up to the first film. The acting was great, the plot was simple and there was even some parental humor tossed in (between Neeson and Kim's new boyfriend). Bottom line is that it's a good flick to watch whenever you find yourself with some free time.