The law of diminishing returns is back with a bang with a movie sequel following up to 2008’s sleeper hit Taken. Whilst for a good few years, Western cinema has gotten away without putting an outright bad sequel, this one seems to have taken a large amount of stick. Well hold your horses, because whilst Taken 2 is disappointing, but it’s not terrible.
A year after the events of Taken, the Albanian Mafia led by Murad Hoxha (Rade Sherbedgia, Snatch) plot their revenge on retired Intelligence agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson, Battleship). They seize their opportunity when he’s on a security business trip to Istanbul. Unfortunatly, Bryan’s daughter Kim (Maggie Grace, Faster) and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen, X-Men) come along and surprise him making them targets too. Bryan and Lenore end up being kidnapped and it’s up to Kim to break the two out so Bryan can settle this once and for all.
Neeson returns to the role which pushed him into the role of an action star as ex-CIA Mills and he appears a bit bored and glazed over during the entire runtime. He’s still engaging as the busybody dad, trying to connect and care for his daughter, who can turn into a machine of an intelligent action hero when needed, but we’ve seen it before and there’s nothing new here, so perhaps when Neeson declares he’s tired of it all at the end of the film it’s a foreshadowing of his future view on the franchise.
Grace is more than your standard kidnapped American teen. After the journey we’ve been through with her in the first Taken, she has matured in the eyes of the audience and now responds to her father’s near militaristic demands because she knows that being ex-CIA, he knows how to get out of these situations.
Janssen, on the other hand, was puzzling; it’s understandable that the younger Kim wouldn’t know about her father’s secret agent history, but as Mills’ ex there’s an expectation for the more mature mother to react better than the younger inexperienced teen when they are about to be kidnapped, yet she panics as if she doesn’t have a clue what’s going on and Mills has to calm her down; making for a disappointing role reversal.
The most annoying thing about Taken 2 is the lowering of violence to get a lower rating. A 12A pretty much means that anyone can go and see this film without worrying about any really graphic violence – you know, the kind of stuff which made the first one appealing as it highlighted the extreme lengths Mills goes to get his daughter back. It smacks of selling out to get the widest audience spread which, from the looks of it, succeeds both with the censors, and displeasuring fans of the first.
The thing is, it leads to noticeably bad camera techniques being used to cover up the violence; a glaring example of this is when Lenore has her face slashed with a knife and she’s then hung upside down to bleed to death. You’re left wondering for a good half the film wondering what evil thing these Albanians have done, before you realise it’s only a scratch, and get the impression they’ve hiding something. An uncut edition would be a fairer comparison perhaps, as you can tell the director obviously had his hands tied by the studio, but if it’s going to be anything as supposedly “grim” as this then no thanks.
As a piece of “dad fiction”, Taken excelled, and whilst the sequel treads familiar ground it’s still likeable; Neeson as Mills is the slightly bumbling, well meaning dad whose trying to teach his daughter to drive, but turns all action hero when needed. As a fantasy piece it works well enough, and plays on standard emotional values; wouldn’t we all launch after whoever kidnapped our daughters, wifes etc. when needed?
Taken 2’s also got a great premise, as the Alabanian mob actually have a great reason to come after Mills; they just want to off him horribly as bloody revenge for their lost loved ones from the first film, and the daughter and ex-wife are a cheeky bonus. Of course, they get run roughshod and despatched too easily to be a threat, but then this is Liam Neeson protecting his wife and daughter, which is both an unstoppable force and an immovable object.
The action leaves a lot to be desired however; there’s an excellent car chase in a taxi though the streets of Istanbul which must have been a mission to film through the tight streets at high speed and should be appreciated, but the majority of Taken 2’s action comes from our old friend fluster-vision; whilst not being as offensive as the main perpetrator of the trope this year (The Bourne Legacy), it’s still noticeable and has confusing and too fast paced action. It is another decent action slice from veteran action filmmaker Luc Besson’s (Leon) wily old eyes, but it feels like an attempt to keep up with modern trends when it should going to a harder action style.
If, and it’s a big one, you can get over lowering of the rating, it’s still a highly enjoyable film; it’s nowhere near as enjoyable as the first, and comes perilously close to being a straight remake, but the taxi car chase is pretty memorable and the cast is engaging. Taken 2 has a boggy start, but the black and white world is made clear from the start and half the film is just build for Neeson unleashing his rage at those who deserve it. But do the audience deserve to see it again watered down?
Terry Lewis – @thatterrylewis.
