The revival of Liam Neeson's career as an action hero is something we should all be happy about. He is middle aged, has an average physique and takes charge of things the way Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson used to. For all its flaws, TAKEN had some 70s charm and awesomely turned the angry dad into an action hero. I believe it was Teddy Atlas who said: ''Champions never know when to stop,'' and the same could be said for several good ideas and successful projects. TAKEN 2 is a stupid, painful, racist and thoroughly reactionary movie that doesn't have a clue about what made the first one endearing. I suppose it's kind of funny if you're looking for the ultimate 'murica movie.
Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson)'s life has improved a little bit since he saved his daughter from evil Albanian human traffickers. Kim (Maggie Grace) and her mom Lenore (Famke Janssen) still believe he's a psycho, but at least they have a relationship to him now. After Lenore's asshole ex cancels their plane tickets and reservations for their trip to China, Bryan offers his ex-wife and daughter to tag along on his trip to Istambul after his work assignment. Naturally, they do and shit goes haywire. The dad of the human trafficker in TAKEN (Rade Serbedzjia) has a blood feud with Bryan and wants to wipe him and everything he loves from the face of the Earth. Keep this between you and me, but I believe Rade Serbedzjia's character hates freedom.
TAKEN 2 is the worst possible kind of racist. The kind that pretends to understand why Middle Eastern people hate America. The Albanian/Turkish characters (you're never actually sure who or where they are before Bryan Mills lands in Istambul) are all stern, battle-hardened warriors thirsty for the blood of the American agency guy who took out one of them. Why would grief have to be lived so violently? The other dad spends a considerable amount of money and energy to pursue his vengeance on Bryan Mills, yet he seems to believe his son's human trafficking activities were perfectly normal. Like it's a custom in his country to enslave girls a force them into a life of prostitution. What kind of faulty, reactionary logic is that? Are Americans the only people capable of introspection and empathy? The entire premise of TAKEN 2 is an unsollicited slap in the face to Middle Eastern people.
You know that awesome scene? There is nothing even remotely similar in TAKEN 2.
What made TAKEN fun was the ''dad factor.'' It was funny to think you could kidnap a man's daughter and he would fly across the globe, whoop your ass and take her back, no matter how powerful you might be. Liam Neeson's polite, suburban phone threats to random Albanian abductor are already stuff of legends. TAKEN 2 is stripped of the ''dad factor'' because it's actually Bryan Mills who gets abducted, due to an ongoing blood feud with an Albanian dad he was not aware of. It could have been funny if TAKEN 2 didn't fail to understand its own character so bad. Bryan Mills is turned into just another mopey, secret agent dad who just wants to live through the day. The American values of simple, humble enjoyment of freedom are put forward in TAKEN 2, way before the ''dadness' of it all. It should've been a dad showdown, but instead it's a comparative study of values, seen through a super duper reactionary lense.
I should've known better than to trust the team of Olivier Megaton and Luc Besson. They are black belts in inane bullshit, experts at borrowing credibility from everything they can put their hands on to hide their lack of skills and inspiration. There are literally no redeeming factor to this movie. TAKEN 2 is an opportunistic piece of crap that surfs the wave of Liam Neeson's career revival and American xenophobia (and it's about 3 years too late in that regard). Also, am I the only person feeling the burning irony that this movie was written and directed by French people? If you think the nefarious team learned their lesson after producing such a scalding turd, brace yourselves. TAKEN 3 is scheduled for next year.