If you were expecting to find anything even remotely original in the sequel to the 2009 surprise hit Taken, Taken 2, you will be sorely disappointed. The original film focused on the lengths to which secret agent Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) would go to save his daughter after she is abducted and sold into a human trafficking ring. Liam Neeson returns to essentially do what he did in the first film, but with his wife in his daughter’s stead.
The leader of the Albanian human trafficking team seeks vengeance on Mills after he killed the Albanian’s son in the previous film. Mills’ ex-wife is taken when the family takes a trip to hotel in Istanbul. Something that many viewers might struggle with is the fact that he’s going to Istanbul with his ex-wife, an overall unpleasant person to be around.
It is so hard to sympathize with her character that at times you might find yourself questioning why Mills is wasting his time trying to save her. Unfortunately, this is the least of this movie’s problems. For some strange reason, it appears that Mills’ daughter (Maggie Grace) has incredible fighting skills. Perhaps she was trying to avoid being sold to human traffickers again and, in the time between the events of the two films, decided to take some fighting classes(?).
There really is nothing wrong with a senseless, fun action movie, and this wouldn’t be a problem if the movie didn’t take itself so seriously and lazily put together. It’s sloppy rehashed brown drivel that exists only as a way for studio heads to cash in on a mildly successful movie.
The film is jam packed with action, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before and at times even difficult to comprehend. The choreography in some of the fight scenes is simply atrocious, despite the fact there are some well done action scenes to make up for it..
However, having countless action scenes in a movie won’t matter when you can predict the entire story within the first 10 minutes.
If you don’t enjoy watching the same movie more than once, then avoid Taken 2 like the plague. Avoid it if only to help prevent movies like this from being made in the future.