Best to quit while they're ahead...67.5%

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2012)

I remember quite liking the first "Taken" so I did have an interest in seeing the sequel. The law of diminishing returns is kicking in though now...and there might just be scope for at least two sequels given the events of this movie.
Anyway, the plot concerns the father of one of the slain people traffickers of the first movie seeking revenge for the carnage caused by ex C.I.A. officer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), who was ruthless in rescuing his daughter from a terrible fate in the first movie. The tables are somewhat turned in the sequel.
The first act of the movie is a rather lengthy depiction of a lot of nice people (Bryan, his ex-wife and their daughter)...which basically establishes that they don't deserve what is about to befall them and to justify the further actions Bryan will be forced to undertake (pun intended).
Seeing Bryan's old work buddies in this movie reminded me that they were in the first movie too...gosh, they must have had about two minutes worth of screen time for both movies! They're little more than plot devices in any case, which is overstating things!
One is reminded of the Death Wish movie franchise...in that series, the vigilante was forever avenging the murders of those closest to him...eventually he must surely have been avenging the grocer he shops at, right? Which is to say I wonder how many criminals Bryan can tick off to provide fodder for this series...and whether revisiting the premise will prove entertaining at all or just ridiculous.
I could have sworn I reviewed the first Taken here, but don't see it.