Taken 2 Review
Taken 2 *** Taken down the same road…but at less speed
(Should have been ** really but unlike Brian Mills, I’m soft)
Intro
Taken
came out of nowhere and became a cult hit. The cinema takings weren’t
amazing but on DVD had a second lease of life which occurred through
word of mouth which to this day is still the best form of advertising.
Taken 2
is expected to double the box office of the first but what is going to
harm the film more than anything will ironically be word of mouth….
Plot
Taken 2 begins with the multiple funerals of the men, retired spy Brian Mills killed in the first film Taken
whilst rescuing his daughter. Here the relatives, who appear equally as
dodgy, swear revenge on the one man army that wiped out their loved
ones. Cut to Mills whose now in a more comical role, stalking his
daughter upon the discovery… she has a boyfriend! Obviously he doesn’t
watch Jeremy Kyle as most people his daughter’s age are grandmother’s by
now.
Mills other preoccupation is to get his daughter to pass her driving test presumably just in case she’s ever involved in car chase in Istanbul where murdering psychopathic Albanians are coming after her….
At this point Mills invites his daughter and ex wife to join him for a nice peaceful holiday in Istanbul. But beware the bad guys are tracking him down and it won’t be long till Mills and his ex-wife are …Taken.
Analysis
When
we get excited over a sequel the biggest draw for the audience is
seeing the characters return. That’s what we want to see the same
characters not the same story. This is why so many fans where concerned
with the idea of Taken 2.
The circumstances within Taken
were so unique that the idea of a recycled plot wouldn’t cut it with
fans. I mean how can you top his daughter being randomly abducted by the
Albianian criminal underworld? Well I suppose it’s by having her Mum
and Dad both abducted by the Albianian criminal underworld.…?
The
original connection of the bad guys here to the first set of
kidnappers, makes sense and kind of gives it a little bit of heart.
Think about it even human trafficking evil psychotics must have parents
and also the film begins slowly which allows tension to raise just the
same as the first. These I might add are the films good points.
However Taken 2 falls ill to that deadly sequel disease…. repeated pattern syndrome which Hangover part 2
needlessly had resorted to. We go through the same motions at the same
points as the first film, such as the key scene: The repeat of the pre
taken phone call that made the first film.
It wasn’t a daunting task either, like everyone made out it was going to be. All you need to be is creative…. I think some producers in Hollywood just had a cold shudder when I typed that.
How do you beat Taken? Well for one boys and girls you don’t compete, you simply take another direction. Taken was a unique story, so for a sequel all you need is your main popular character and put him another unique story.

The
retired Spy element means you could have plot lines that could take him
anywhere. Think back to his conversation with his daughter in Taken
where he reminisces about his past spy days he was a “preventer”, let’s
explore that in a sequel, in a whole new story, that dose sound
exciting.
That
won’t be happening this time has they have just upped the stakes by
taking twice as many people this time… err two… and one of them is the
lead character?
Taken 2 is a victim of commercialism. Taken had word of mouth advertising Taken 2’s
PR campaign pulls out all the stops using modern social media resources
like Facebook pages, Twitter campaigns, YouTube interviews, Even pre
trailer clips of Neeson spoofing himself e.g. Watch this clip or else “…I will look for you, I will find you” Christ Liam don’t whore yourself.
That’s
the point all the darkness is gone and it’s a much more a jolly ditty
than the first… but the facts are these films aren’t meant to be.
There
is no real risk here either, once abducted I think the worse Neeson
gets is a slap and spit in the face. His wife gets abducted not once but
twice and still seems relatively unscathed considering she’s hanging
around murdering, rapist, human trafficking Albanian monsters.
Conclusion
Its biggest fault, its biggest regret and its biggest down fall in one word is commercialism.
The
sale was more important than the product. If you have an 18
certificate, then chances are you’re telling the story, the way you want
to tell it, but to drop down to a 12A was a little concerning.
These
fears where put into reality with at least three fight sequences were
horridly edited down to keep the rating down. Especially when but the
edit always come at the end of the sequence and it’s difficult to even
ascertain how the bad guys were eventually killed.
In
fact the last death was so badly done, it got a laugh from the
audience, when we witness Neeson’s strange facial high five killed
someone… somehow?
I
just can’t help but the feel the DVD is going to be the real treasure
with what I hope will contain an uncut version and maybe then I can see
more of the film I had expected.
Including
maybe an alternate ending that won’t be half as bloody soft as the
closing scene I saw, which leaves the series feeling more like a daytime
family soap.
Taken 2
Quick Summary
In two lines or less what can I say….
Biggest Pro
The
action in the film is great, it what saves the film and makes it worth
seeing alone apart from the bits they crudely edited.
Biggest Con
The
18 cert to 12a says it all. We lose the edge and the grit of the first
film, which they then replace with a commercially censored tame vibe.
Outcome
It’s
great seeing Neeson back in the role and as Mill’s put’s it “doing what
I do best” if only the Filmmakers and writers had done the same.
Rating ***
(Should have been ** really but unlike Brian Mills, I’m soft)
Ironically
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