Dull, dull, dull

Rating: 1/10 (16 October 2012)

Since I wasn't a fan of Taken (the first one) I didn't hold out much hope for this installment, although I'm willing to entertain it as it *may* surprise me (haha).
To recap, Liam's daughter was kidnapped in the first one meaning Liam had to do some bad things to get her back. In this one some folk were annoyed with what Liam did and therefore wanted to return the favour. Yes, it's a straight-up revenge flick. We've seen revenge films many times before, but hey, they might find a different way to tell this story, some different angle or story device, alas no.
One of the main problems with the first one is that the Maggie Grace character is very annoying, meaning I had no interest in her being rescued which negates the whole point of the film. In this one, she is just as annoying, oh well. She was equally annoying in Lost, thankfully she had a fairly early exit from that.
Liam and his wife get taken (I see what they did there) and Maggie actually *helps* to rescue them. The second half is then Liam rescuing the wife who spends all that time being unconscious and groaning.
As action films go it was very by-the-numbers, there was no tension, at no point did we think Liam was in trouble. For me Liam doesn't work as an action hero, he looks like your kind old uncle rather than someone like Mr Willis. I understand that could be the point, but I wasn't convinced. He suits the calm and controlled Jedi character, but he never had a platform in which to shine (thanks George!).
The acting was generally wooden. There was no chemistry between any of the characters especially Liam and Maggie; I was more convinced by the bad guys. The story and way it was told has been done many, many times before. I can't think of a single original idea in here, it felt like a cut-and-paste job, a mish-mash of all the action films from the last ten years, but not even using the good bits. Oh and the ending was boringly predictable - yawn.
There was a line that made me properly laugh out loud: "Is there a safe place you can throw a grenade?".
I did read something positive about this film on IMDb: "According to the film's writer Luc Besson, this will be the only sequel." What? Please no... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/ *** Rants *** Spoilers *** Rants *** Spoilers *** Rants *** Spoilers *** Oh dear, oh dear, this film is so full of plot holes and things that make no sense it almost seems they were written in on purpose. I'll rant about them anyway as this is more therapeutic (and cheaper) than counselling: - If you have some prisoners you've spent a great deal of time and money on capturing - watch them! Either someone sit in the room or setup a web cam so you can see what they're up to. Don't leave it to the sleepy guard taking a nap outside the door. This is such an old trope now it's become very irritating.

Why were they taken (!) to a holding room? They have their guy, they want him dead - just shoot him.

If wanting to handcuff someone please use metal handcuff, not threads of cotton.

We know from the last film Liam killed lots of people, meaning he's probably pretty handy. If you capture your guy - search him for weapons or any communication devices he may have stashed about his person.

So Liam manages to phone Maggie and have a good old chit-chat for several minutes. Can no one hear him? I guess our sleepy guard is really asleep - bless, must be hard work being a thug and general cannon fodder.

We hear from the bad guy boss that Liam is to be captured alive. So why in the next scene are the bad guys shooting straight at him? If he's in a car shoot out his tyres or aim for the engine. Unless it's one of those magical exploding cars - then don't.

When captured and taken (!) to the baddies place he builds a mental map, some of which are sounds. When Liam retraces this mental map some time later we still have the same guy playing the same musical instrument on the same step. The same dogs are barking at the same place. The same guys are welding in the same area. The same guy is singing at the same mosque. What? Really? Come on! - Why did they crash into the US Embassy? What was the point? They could have stopped outside.

After they crashed would they have let this guy loose again? Would he not have been arrested or at least held for the damage caused, not to mention all the people he'd shot.

Let's say they were happy with him crashing into the embassy and shooting people so released him to rescue the wife. Would none of the troops have gone with him to maybe help this guy out. Either do one thing or the other, purlease...