Taken 2 MOVIE REVIEW

An unnecessary sequel that doesn't match the intensity or originality of the first installment.

Taken 2 (who would have ever thought that we have another Taken) is pretty much the same premise as before, but this time you don't really care as much.  This go around, the father of the guy who kidnapped Kim (Maggie Grace) in the original film is now out to seek revenge on retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) and his family.  So while Mills is in Istanbul working a security gig, his daughter Kim and wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) come to visit and so it all begins again.  This time it is Mills and his wife who are taken and Kim (with the help from Mills via a mini cellphone still on him) helping them escape so Mills can finish the job.  The story, very similar to the original, is not the greatest, but it isn't the main problem I had with this movie.  How it was shot and edited is it's downfall.  We get the shaky camera effect any time there is action on the screen.  While the shaky cam makes it very hard to see the action, it is the constant changing of shots that make it hard to enjoy.  What made the first Taken good, was seeing Liam Neeson use his skills to pretty much kick ass.  With some shots that last half of a second and change to the next, you miss half the action.  The movie is very predictable with a couple of times where it is so ridiculous that you will be thinking "Are You Serious?".  The acting is ok at best and if it wasn't for Neeson, I'd be saying the acting was nothing special.  Like Kim's boyfriend in the film, this movie wasn't needed.
...AND SIMPLY PUT RENT IT IF YOU WERE A FAN OF THE ORIGINAL. C-


Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Sherbedgia, Luke Grimes
Director: Olivier Megaton
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality
Taken 2 out October 5 is Now in Theaters