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Friday, October 5, 2012

Film Taken 2: Problems from the Name On Down

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 4:22 PM

The first warning sign arrives with the title: Taken 2 is exactly as boring as the filmmakers could get. Why not Taken Again, or Under Taken or Re-Taken or even Taken: The Turkish Job? Something that hints at the fact that the filmmakers know how stupid the idea of a Taken sequel is would be a balm to nervous moviegoers. Unfortunately, this is a movie that takes itself way too seriously.

Let's be clear: The first Taken was action candy, along the lines of a Jason Statham movie. It was xenophobic, amoral, and mean, but American audiences came out in droves to watch Liam Neeson brutally murder the foreigners who dared to take his daughter (Maggie Grace), and it made so much money that a sequel was practically required by law. But how, even in a movie world as logic-free as this one, do filmmakers justify these characters facing another kidnapping at the hands of evil foreigners, requiring Neeson to kick even more ass? Turns out, they just didn't worry about it.

The enemies in Taken 2 are out for revenge. They're countrymen of Neeson's victims in the first film, led by the father of Taken's main bad guy. And their brilliant revenge plan is to kidnap Neeson and his family. There are very few winks to the ridiculous idea that a family could suffer two kidnappings in the span of a year or two, and the only twist to the formula is that this time the daughter has to free her father and mother. Taken 2 occasionally delivers some brain-dead thrills. There's a hilarious sequence in which Grace uses geometry and a few wildly thrown grenades in order to locate her father. But Olivier Megaton's direction is awful. He barely makes use of the movie's Istanbul setting—only a rooftop chase really gets the location across—and his action and chase scenes are a choppy, un-follow-able mess. Taken 2 could have been a lot of fun, but it turns out to be just another dumb (or worse, intellectually deceitful) sequel. How boring.

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I liked Jon Stewart calling it "Tooken" and "The Tookening".

(and there's always "Taken' 2: Electric Tookaloo")

Posted by SoSea Resident on October 5, 2012 at 4:38 PM

Xenophobic that seems like a stretch, just a movie.

Posted by Seattle14 on October 5, 2012 at 5:20 PM

Don't you hate it when Hollywood does a 2 when you didn't like 1?

Posted by Bauhaus I on October 5, 2012 at 5:41 PM

The director's name is Olivier Megaton? Is he also a supervillain in "The Incredibles 2"?

Posted by MacBastard on October 5, 2012 at 6:43 PM

I was on board with the idea until I saw the trailer: Boris The Blade is taking revenge on this guy personally? Really?

Posted by Knat on October 5, 2012 at 8:00 PM

Is it possible for an unarmed man to be in a movie?

Posted by Sean Kinney

on October 5, 2012 at 8:25 PM

I hear they're making another "Die Hard" movie too. I think they should name it "Die Already". *grumble, moan*

Posted by Revenge! on October 5, 2012 at 9:23 PM

What I really don't get about this premise is that somehow the bad guys are justified at retaliating for what Liam Neeson's character did to those kidnappers. He did what he had to do to get his daughter back.

Posted by Grrr on October 5, 2012 at 10:43 PM

I seem to recall that the foreigners in the first film spoke a lot more in subtitles than the accented English speaking Albanian villagers in the sequel.

Posted by seatackled on October 5, 2012 at 11:38 PM

I miss Lindy West.

Posted by this guy I know in Spokane on October 5, 2012 at 11:54 PM

It's the Rocky IV paradox.

Posted by Ivan Drago on October 6, 2012 at 12:00 AM

I think I will have to see it, the first one is one of the best bad movies I've ever experienced.

Posted by ryanmm on October 6, 2012 at 5:43 AM

First off, Olivier Megaton?! Secondly, there's a lot of legitimate critiques about movies like this....but only in Strangerland could you get a line like: "but American audiences came out in droves to watch Liam Neeson brutally murder the foreigners who dared to take his daughter". - Yeah, the nerve of Liam Neeson as played by Liam Neeson going after those guys. What a jerk!

Posted by Spindles on October 6, 2012 at 3:01 PM

Isn't Liam Neeson a foreigner? He's not American. I'll wait for the DVD.

Posted by Patricia Kayden on October 6, 2012 at 6:36 PM

"It was xenophobic, amoral, and mean, but American audiences came out in droves"

Because it was xenophobic, amoral and mean, like "real Amerikuh".

@2: "Xenophobic that seems like a stretch, just a movie."

Oh look, it's the idiot demographic for the movie speaking up.

Posted by jfc, think more on October 7, 2012 at 11:24 AM

Agree, the first movie was some weird special thing that happens sometimes which makes movies a classic. Forcing a squeal never works. It'd be like office space 2: intertech returns, or a big lebowski: the nihilist revenge

Posted by npage148 on October 8, 2012 at 9:41 AM

The whole premise is far fetched. What are the odds a guy's wife & daughter get kidnapped twice. Where was Femke Jensen's husband?....why would any man married to this hottie have issues with her? Where were the police when the daughter was lobbing grenades all over the place? Why would Liam allow his daughter to drive a stolen Mercedes taxi when she can't even pass a driver's test? After his daughter hits at least ten cars in the stolen taxi there is not even a scratch on the taxi. Why did Liam leave Femke by herself when he recaptured her? How did Liam get a huge metal suitcase filled with grenades and guns past security into Instanbul? Despite all this i liked the movie except for the syrupy sweet ending where they are all eating sundaes on the Santa Monica pier.

Posted by Movie Critic on January 22, 2013 at 3:44 PM