As good as the original TAKEN

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2013)

Retired CIA agent, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) and Lenore ( Famke Janssen) his ex-wife and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) are on vacation in Istanbul when he and Lenore are kidnapped by the father of one of the men Bryan killed and who was one of the men who kidnapped Bryan's daughter Kim (in the first TAKEN movie). See?
We are told that nothing succeeds like success and here we are shown a new twist on a previous movie. One asks, can Kim act like a Mel Gibson character and get her parents back? Only kidding. Well, I thought I was kidding, but Bryan has Kim doing things to pinpoint where the kidnappers are keeping him and Lenore. Kind of clever. Have no idea if all that would work in real life, but hey, this is a movie and anything is possible. Still clever though.
The movie kind of starts out with Bryan giving Kim driving lessons to get her driver license (she failed twice before); but as you will see later Kim, with her unlicensed driving skills, destroys all the Turkish police cars chasing them. The car chasing stunts are truly spectacular and I had to dodge a few fenders myself and yes, some were pretty close. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Sorry.
There is plenty of excitement throughout because we know that Bryan will do exactly what he says about himself: "what I do best." And, to be sure, he doesn't disappoint. The entire cast performed well, even the bad guys.
Now, is this movie as good as the original TAKEN? I would say they are on a par with each other and that's pretty good.
However, there is a picky point I must share. When Bryan is kidnapped we see him in a car going over a river on a ferry. When he escapes (come on, you know he will), we are not shown him going back over that river. In fact when Kim does what Bryan tells her what to do from her hotel location we see that he is close and no river is in sight. It was like he was just around the corner. See? Other than that, I see this as good thriller and very entertaining.
Ah, I see you have a question: did Kim finally pass her driving test? Hmmmmm (7/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No. Only one s-word was heard.