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Sunday, October 7, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW
Taken 2

Taking No Prisoners, And Taking Them Too Seriously



Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills in Olivier Megaton's action-drama "Taken 2". 
Fox

    

by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Sunday, October 7, 2012

"Everybody needs a helping hand," a cheery voice is heard singing in a scene early on in Los Angeles as Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) buffs a car he's wiping down to a shine.  This mellow scene is an abrupt transition from the furious, fidgety opening credits and hard-hitting scene set in Istanbul which has just preceded it.  All of this happens in Olivier Megaton's action drama "Taken 2", written in by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen.  Mr. Megaton's film is a cartoonish spectacle, a mass of nonsense that takes itself so seriously as to be utterly preposterous.

In Pierre Morel's impressive original "Taken" (2009) the action, and some characters, were sharper.  There was scope and context.  In this misshapen sequel Mr. Megaton uses a truncated story that outlandishly showcases traits of Bryan's know-how and precision as a security expert to stitch together a threadbare plot.  Bryan had gunned down an aggrieved man's sons when rescuing his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from an Istanbul prostitution ring in the previous film.  Now in "Taken 2" on a three-day assignment in Istanbul (it's not especially clear what the purpose of the trip is), Bryan brings Kim and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) with him.  Lenore, significantly softened in the script from the one-dimensional abrasive personality she was in "Taken", has been divorced from her latest husband.  

When in Istanbul Lenore and Bryan get kidnapped, and this time it's their daughter Kim to the rescue.

In employing this inverted story from Mr. Morel's film "Taken 2" doesn't do anything new.  Though sequels tend to play things safe and add extra helpings of what worked previously, Mr. Megaton's film doesn't.  There's less action, less excitement but worst of all "Taken 2" takes itself so seriously that it becomes a numbing, senseless experience.  When Bryan, handcuffed to a pipe in a dungeon-like location, tells Kim to draw circles on a map and throw grenades around Istanbul, the film has literally gone bat-shit crazy.  "Stay calm, Kim," Bryan intones, keeping a straight face as the proceedings become ever more laughable and ridiculous.

Despite taking names and breaking necks Mr. Neeson shows some wear and tear here as Bryan Mills.  He never allows himself to admit what Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh character's famous declaration in the "Lethal Weapon" films.  "Taken 2" needed to breathe and take stock of its environment.  Bryan needs a non-working vacation, as does this franchise, which with this film has already aged far too quickly.

Had "Taken 2" been a parody, like, say, "True Lies" -- where the family gets in on the hair-raising action with a smile and some laughs -- it might have worked.  Instead, "Taken 2" is a parody of a bad sequel that takes itself seriously.  And that's not funny.

Also with: Rade Serbedzija, Leland Orser, Luke Grimes, D.B. Sweeney.

"Taken 2" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality.  The film's running time is one hour and 31 minutes.      

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