Liam Neeson doing what he does best

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2012)

¨Listen to me carefully Kim: Your mother is going to be taken, and people are gonna come for you to. ¨
I find it almost impossible not to like a film starring Liam Neeson in this type of role. He is such a great and serious actor, but it's like these roles were really made for him. I don't care how stupid the script might have felt, or how poorly edited the action scenes were; I really love Liam Neeson in this role. I think he's much better than Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, or Daniel Craig in James Bond, or even Matt Damon in the Bourne trilogy. That is how much I like this great actor playing this retired Ex-CIA agent trying to save his family. Taken was one of my favorite films of 2008, I loved everything about that movie. Taken 2 (loved that they stuck with a simple title for the sequel instead of adding something lame after the two may not be as nearly as great as that film was, but it still is a lot of fun and has Liam Neeson doing what he does best. This is a very predictable, formulaic film, but he just makes it that much better. French Director, Olivier Megaton, was fortunate to work with Neeson because without him this movie would've been terrible. The action sequences weren't as cool as his previous film Colombiana (which also got a lift thanks to Zoe Saldana's performance). The change of director from the first film might not have worked to well, but producer Luc Besson and screenwriter Robert Kamen were back on board. Besson, who directed some great films in the 90's (Leon being one of my personal favorites) must not like directing very much because he has stuck mostly to producing and writing. He could of done a better job here with the sequel, but I think he was relying heavily on Neeson's performance, which let's face it makes this franchise so much better than it really is. I still loved this movie and had a lot of fun despite not being as good as the original.
Former CIA agent, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), succeeded in bringing his daughter back after being kidnapped in Europe, leaving dozens of dead bodies behind. These men were responsible for his daughter's kidnapping and messed with the wrong person. Some time has passed and Bryan is completely dedicated to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), who he's trying to help pass the driving test. He's also a bit obsessive with her new boyfriend, and sometimes goes over the limit when trying to protect her. His ex wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), is going through a separation in her second marriage and Bryan begins to get closer to her. He invites Kim and Lenore to meet up with him in Istanbul for a job which will only take him a few days. What begins like a nice vacation for the family ends up being a nightmare when they discover they are being followed by the father of one of the kidnappers that Bryan killed while rescuing his daughter. Murad (Rade Serbedzija) has sworn revenge for his son's death and for the death of the rest of the victim's family who worked with him. This is where the action begins and does not stop up to the very end.
I really do hope this franchise ends here because there is not really much more you can add to this. Taken 2 is not as intense as the original, but it still had me entertained during the full 90 minutes. I might be a little biased because I really like Liam Neeson. I admit the script isn't as gripping or smart than the original, but it was still inventive enough for us to enjoy a second installment. There are a lot of hugely implausible scenarios, but I tend to be a bit open minded when I go to the movies. I go to be entertained, and that is exactly what I got out of Taken 2. It was really going to be very difficult for this sequel to live up to its predecessor, but it worked quite well for me. I can understand why some people may not have liked this film as much, but for the most part I think that fans of the first film will leave satisfied at the end. It is really a lot of fun.
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