Movie Review : Taken 2
Released : 2012
Director : Oliver Megaton
Genre : Thriller
Starring : Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace
My Rating : 5 out of 10
Hollywood never gives up a chance to make easy money, and making sequels is just one of the ways to try exactly that. The first movie Taken, made respectable amount of money, so the studios must have thought, why not try the same formula, the same actors, and make Taken 2? The brand is established, the movie won’t go unnoticed and there is a good chance of repeat business. That’s fine, but the problem here is, the entire creative team has the same plan. To just show up for work, collect a paycheck, and pray for a bonus. It rarely works, but they still try it anyway.
The story involves the same people from Taken. This time, the events take place in Istanbul, instead of Paris. The villains are looking for revenge, and have plans to kidnap the entire family and kill them. They succeed in fist kidnapping Bryan (Liam Neeson) and his wife, and then go after his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). From the first movie we know the near super-human abilities of Bryan, so we know he is going to save the day somehow.
It kind of worked in Taken, but it fails here miserably. Both the movies demand switching off our brains, but differ in what they give us in return for that demand. Taken was high-speed, sleek and managed to not give us time to think. Taken 2, on the other hand is bland, slow and hardly manages to get our pulse to quicken. There is a car chase here as well, but like everything else in the movie, the director is pushing the limits of being preposterous. It’s a different director, and probably the reason for Taken 2 being utterly boring even with the nearly exact idea and short running time.
I think even Liam Neeson knew the foolishness of the whole project from day one. He is a good actor, but it doesn’t seem that his heart was in it. Almost all the performances are forgettable.
If you haven’t watched Taken, then just watch that instead. If you have watched Taken, then just forget about this movie. I really hope Taken 3 never happens, but sadly there is a good chance that it will.
Released : 2012
Director : Oliver Megaton
Genre : Thriller
Starring : Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace
My Rating : 5 out of 10
Hollywood never gives up a chance to make easy money, and making sequels is just one of the ways to try exactly that. The first movie Taken, made respectable amount of money, so the studios must have thought, why not try the same formula, the same actors, and make Taken 2? The brand is established, the movie won’t go unnoticed and there is a good chance of repeat business. That’s fine, but the problem here is, the entire creative team has the same plan. To just show up for work, collect a paycheck, and pray for a bonus. It rarely works, but they still try it anyway.
The story involves the same people from Taken. This time, the events take place in Istanbul, instead of Paris. The villains are looking for revenge, and have plans to kidnap the entire family and kill them. They succeed in fist kidnapping Bryan (Liam Neeson) and his wife, and then go after his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). From the first movie we know the near super-human abilities of Bryan, so we know he is going to save the day somehow.
It kind of worked in Taken, but it fails here miserably. Both the movies demand switching off our brains, but differ in what they give us in return for that demand. Taken was high-speed, sleek and managed to not give us time to think. Taken 2, on the other hand is bland, slow and hardly manages to get our pulse to quicken. There is a car chase here as well, but like everything else in the movie, the director is pushing the limits of being preposterous. It’s a different director, and probably the reason for Taken 2 being utterly boring even with the nearly exact idea and short running time.
I think even Liam Neeson knew the foolishness of the whole project from day one. He is a good actor, but it doesn’t seem that his heart was in it. Almost all the performances are forgettable.
If you haven’t watched Taken, then just watch that instead. If you have watched Taken, then just forget about this movie. I really hope Taken 3 never happens, but sadly there is a good chance that it will.
