Taken 2

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Ethan, Paul

Textbook factory churned out film, an unnecessary sequel to a surprise hit rushed into production to cash in on the good will of fans of the first.

Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen can write these in their sleep. And they have selected Olivier Megaton from their pool of regular collaborators to tackle the sequel. It's competently made, no doubt about it. But nothing ever really clicks.

Too many missed oppertunities. They instead decided to rehash the basic plot of the first film, but without a credible threat and a weakly characterised villain. The only interesting parts where where the film deviated from the original and saw Liam Neeson having to talk through his daughter played by Maggie Grace to come and rescue him. All the little spy techniques and a proactive female character was genuinly compelling for a while. But they couldn't keep it up for long and then the film just goes through the motions.

Neeson shoots down faceless stock bad guys with no remorse. But nobody really cares. His hand to hand fights are cut infuriatingly fast which only serves to create a blurred mess of what otherwise looked to be some interesting fight choreography.

You can tell they temped the soundtrack with score from the Bourne films, it's just a cheap rehash of that.

Cheap thrills that will leave you unsatisfied.