Taken 2 (2012) Review

Captured from IMDB.com

People love to see their favorite characters return for another adventure. That's why movie sequels are a big part of the movie industry. While Taken was a big hit and protagonist Bryan Mills (portrayed by Liam Neeson) was a kick-ass character that became a fan favorite, I don't know of anyone who anticipated a Taken 2. Author Dean Koontz once said, "The only reason I would write a sequel is if I were struck by an idea that I felt to be equal to the original. Too many sequels diminish the original." If all writers in the world were like Koontz, this movie would not have been made.

I walked into the theater with a lot of skepticism. I've ridiculed Taken 2 since its plot was hinted on the internet. I was ready to bash this movie from the moment it started. Unfortunately or maybe, fortunately, this movie was nothing like I'd expected it to be. It was actually a pretty decent sequel! I'm not just talking about the satisfactory level of entertainment. This movie actually amounts to some level of character development and it's a genuine effort to make the best out of a shitty plot (c'mon, you can't write a good story when the title is Taken 2).

Yes, call the story stupid, unnecessary, and unrealistic. But given the fact that this movie was going to be made, I truly believe this was the best and most logical story they could've come up with. And we have fun with it.

Once again, Liam Neeson is great as Bryan Mills. Prior to watching Taken 2, I had watched Finding Nemo and strangely enough, I saw some similarities between the two films (please don't kill me for comparing these two movies, hear me out!!). Both movies are about an overly protective father learning to trust their dear children, although, I do realize that instructing his daughter on how to defeat terrorists might be a stretch. But still, both Bryan and his daughter, Kim go through turning points throughout the film and that's what enhances the thrill. Bryan realizes that he needs the help of someone else for a change, which makes his reliance on Kim all the more important while Kim has had trouble with keeping time, which makes the scene with her using a timer for a plan more suspenseful. Although subtle, I feel as if the writers tried to include a lot of tie-back moments throughout the film and I give them credit for this because I continued to like the Mills family and I wanted to see everyone survive.

There are so many aspects of this movie that make it fun. Once again Bryan's ex-CIA skills come in great use and it's a blast to see various ways of tracking down people and locating places. The action was a load of BS but what did you expect? The first Taken wasn't without its ridiculous moments and we were asking for more of it once the sequel was in pre-production. And of course, this movie is full of clichés and I've decided to make my own "Movie Cliché List" that I'll refer to from now on (Check out the link here: http://63tomovies.blogspot.kr/p/movie-cliche-list.html) 

Taken 2 has the following three clichés:

- Movie Cliché #1: The Russian Accent

- Movie Cliché #2: The Train is Coming!

- Movie Cliche #3: The Empty Gun

Okay, now that I've talked about how great this movie is, you're probably thinking I liked it. Well, I did! But by all means, it is guilty pleasure. The dialogue can be sloppy and repetitive and there are points where the movie has pacing issues. Sometimes I was saying "Ugh, get on with this!" and sometimes I was asking my friend, "What the hell just happened?" Also, a plot point from the original is completely ignored in the sequel but I almost forgot about that anyway.

Overall, I'm pretty confident that the fans of the original will get more of what they liked. Taken 2 is surprisingly a fun flick and I wouldn't say it made more mistakes than the original.