Movie Review: Taken 2

Taken 2

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney, Luke Grimes, Rade Serbedzija, Kevork Malikyan, Alain Figlarz, Frank Alvarez, Murat Tuncelli, Ali Yildirim, Ergun Kuyucu, Cengiz Bozkurt, Hakan Karahan, Saruhan Sari, Naci Adigüzel, Aclan Bates, Mehmet Polat
Director: Olivier Megaton 

EuropaCorp, Grive Productions, Canal+, M6 Films, Ciné+, France, Turkey, 2012.

In the first Taken movie Albanian human traffickers kidnapped Bryan Mills' (Liam Neeson) daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). The gangsters did not know that Mills was a former Secret Service agent, so Mills went Jack Bauer on them. (Interesting that both Mills and Bauer have daughters named Kim.) Now the relatives of the dead gangsters want their revenge. Mob boss Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija) makes a plan to capture and kill Mills and his family. 

Lenore

Bryan Mills

Mob boss Murad

Now Mills is working as a bodyguard. Mills' relations with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) are getting better. Lenore and Kim come to meet Mills in Istanbul. When Bryan and Lenore get kidnapped, Kim must help her dad who is using a hidden GSM. Kim must blow up grenades(!) so that Mills can hear how far from the holding cell she is. The kidnappers made a bad mistake messing with the Mills family. After escaping the criminals and corrupt cops, Mills goes after Murad's gang.

Mills and Kim on vacation

Mostly gangsters won't know what hit them

Captured Mills

Since the movie is mostly filmed in Istanbul there has to be a rooftop chase on top of Grand Bazaar (also used in movies Skyfall, Argo and The International). There are also plenty of car chases on narrow streets. The action is up to the standard of what you would expect in a Luc Besson production, well choreographed and fast. However comic reliefs often present in Luc Besson productions are missing this time and everything is very serious. Mills has effective combat skills, but he is not very memorable as a hero. The setting makes it feel like a 1980s vigilante movie. Not a very original action film, but entertains while it lasts. 

Grand Bazaar rooftop

Mills duels with Suko (Alain Figlarz)

Crashing cars in Istanbul

Rating: Average