*Spoiler Warning* – the following review may contain spoilers
After a thrilling ride in “Taken”, watching Liam Neeson punch, kick and torture everything he came across, I had high hopes for Taken 2. Ever since it was announced there would be a sequel, it had my interest piquéd somewhat. But the question that hung over the follow up was “who is gonna get kidnapped this time?”
Well the answer, somewhat disappointingly, is Neeson himself, and his on-screen wife Famke Janssen. And there-in lies the film’s first big mistake, as most of the action sequences are handed over to the daughter, played by Maggie “Shannon from Lost” Grace. This is where the film loses it’s pace. It’s Grace who is running and jumping across rooftops, it’s Grace who is chucking hand grenades around like water balloons and it’s Grace who is driving a high-speed chase around Istanbul…in fact, it’s not until Neeson manages to break free that he starts to kick some criminal arse himself…at which point, a good 80% of the film has already played out…and unfortunately when Neeson does get his punch-kick on, it is nowhere near as brutal as the first outing..,old age will do that to you kids!
“Taken” was a formula that worked. They took a revenges story and had Neeson literally punch his way to his daughter. However, Taken 2 just feels like its been made just because they could.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some genuinely decent moments in there, like Neeson’s expert grenade triangulation skills, but everything just feels like its coming up short on the original film.
Worth a watch, but don’t expect to be treated to the same as you were the first time around.
