Author Topic: Taken 2  (Read 3270 times)

BayGBM

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Taken 2
« on: October 05, 2012, 04:33:45 PM »
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I liked Taken and will certainly watch Taken 2 (when it comes on Netflix).  :D



'Taken 2' review: Dad gets mad - again
by Mick LaSalle

Action. Starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace. Directed by Olivier Megaton. (PG-13. 91 minutes.)

In "Taken 2," poor Liam Neeson doesn't ask for much out of life, just a chance to worry over his teenage daughter, like an old fusspot, and maybe get back with his ex-wife. He wants to talk about basketball with his buddies and put his violent past as a lethal CIA operative behind him. But the bad guys won't leave him be. They keep showing up and forcing him to kill them.

"Taken 2" is the sequel to "Taken," the utterly irresistible 2009 thriller that introduced Neeson as an action star in the Harrison Ford vein, that of the fellow who's seemingly normal and reasonable - just don't get him mad. In the original, Albanian slave traffickers abducted his daughter (big mistake). In the sequel, the Albanians are grieving over their dead - lots and lots of dead - and decide that it's payback time.

Indeed, they decide to take their revenge about two lines into the screenplay, which is just the first example of why "Taken 2" is like a textbook on how to make beautiful, successful and highly satisfying junk-food cinema. When it's just a plot point, the information gets tossed out as fast and as forcefully as possible. Time is lavished only on the things that matter.

And in "Taken 2" the things that matter have all to do with character. If you see the movie, this is something worth noticing: As much as this picture is action driven - virtually conceived as a series of interlocking, escalating sequences - its greatest delights are grounded in personality, in the fun of having a protagonist who combines homespun values with velociraptor functionality. The movie commits to the character of Bryan Mills just as Neeson does, unflinchingly, with no compromise, irony or winking at the audience.

To give one example of how effective this can be, take the scene in which Neeson, chained up down in some hellish basement by the traffickers, sneaks out a call to his teenage daughter. He instructs her to go into his suitcase, take out two hand grenades and a gun, and go to the roof to await a second phone call. For good measure, he instructs her to "Be casual."

This moment is grandly pleasing in a number of ways: (1) In its sheer audacity as a plot turn; (2) In its insane and yet complete believability in terms of the Mills character - both in that he'd give his daughter these instructions and that he'd happen to have hand grenades in his suitcase; and (3) In the way it makes us anticipate more. What does he want her to do with those hand grenades, anyway?

It all starts as just a little vacation in Istanbul, which looks stunning. Mills is pleased, because his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) seems to be coming back around to him, and their daughter (Maggie Grace) is there, too. They're family again, and all is well, until he notices that their car is being followed. Never one unwilling to deny reality, he snaps into survival mode - and he stays there, angry and focused, as well as irritated that these people keep forcing him to extremes.

"Taken 2" is not about subtlety. At one point a fatherly looking man (Rade Serbedzija) tells Mills that he plans to sell Mills' daughter back into slavery and that "she will be abused by so many men that she'll be nothing more than a piece of meat a dog would not have." OK, so that's the bad guy. Got it. Fortunately, a good action film doesn't need subtlety but clean lines, sure definitions, big emotions and, ideally, economy. "Taken 2" has all these things. It also has the most genuinely nerve-racking car chase I've seen in years.

Yes, for the record "Taken" was fresher, and therefore better, but not by a lot. As sequels go, "Taken 2" is more than respectable, and so enjoyable I'd happily sit down right now and watch "Taken 3," if it existed. Someday it probably will.

Gregzs

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2012, 09:53:24 PM »
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/LEVITIKUZsLOUNGE/news/?a=68470

TAKEN 3 Confirmed?

Even after mixed to negative reviews, Taken 2 is doing very well. How well you ask? Its opening day in the United States and Canada the film earned $18.4 million, $1.5 million of which came from midnight showings. In its opening weekend, Taken 2 grossed $49.5 million in North America, setting a new record for the highest-ever October opening in North America of a film rated PG-13. It right now has grossed more in it's release than Taken. Right now it has made over $100 million global. So with all the success in the box office from Taken 2, Fox has said they want to make a third Taken film. Taken 2 screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen has confirmed that Taken 3 will happen. Kamen said:


We didn't start talking about [Taken 3] until we saw the numbers. But then we said, 'Oh, OK. I think we should do a third one.' And Fox wants us to do a third one."


Kamen also talked about what would be the story of Taken 3 be about:


How many times can she be taken? It's bad parenthood after that. Taken 3 is going to go in another direction. Should be interesting."


A day before this came out, star Liam Neeson said this about if he would do a third Taken:


 “I can’t see a possible scenario where audiences wouldn’t go, ‘Oh, come on…! She’s taken again?’”

WillGrant

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2012, 01:10:26 AM »
Just watched online - not as good as the first ( when are sequels ever) but still a cool movie for a modern action/thriller  :)

Grape Ape

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2012, 08:01:48 PM »
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I liked Taken and will certainly watch Taken 2 (when it comes on Netflix).  :D

Why are you embarrassed?   Taken was almost perfect as far as action movies go.
Y

BayGBM

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2012, 08:03:20 AM »
 :D


BayGBM

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2012, 05:46:28 PM »
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a_ahmed

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2012, 04:02:45 PM »
I watched it with the wife in theater. The whole movie reeks of subliminal anti-islam/anti-muslim imagery/scenery. It's hilarious, every time it shows a city in the US or scene in the US its happy music, cheerfulness, brighter contrast. While when it shows what are supposedly 'devout' mozzlems, its darker hues/contrast, dark music/arab slapstick music, etc...

Pretty pathetic. Ironically though Liam Neeson while in Turkey got to learn about Islam and thought it is a beautiful religion, yet the movie gives subliminal messages just like the first did.

Kind of a slapstick action movie where the american is super smart and does super smart things which are very hollywood  like :)

WillGrant

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2012, 05:08:46 AM »
I watched it with the wife in theater. The whole movie reeks of subliminal anti-islam/anti-muslim imagery/scenery. It's hilarious, every time it shows a city in the US or scene in the US its happy music, cheerfulness, brighter contrast. While when it shows what are supposedly 'devout' mozzlems, its darker hues/contrast, dark music/arab slapstick music, etc...

Pretty pathetic. Ironically though Liam Neeson while in Turkey got to learn about Islam and thought it is a beautiful religion, yet the movie gives subliminal messages just like the first did.

Kind of a slapstick action movie where the american is super smart and does super smart things which are very hollywood  like :)
I watched it and didn't think those things you highlighted - just typical Hollywood casting the USA eg: good guy versus bad guys - it's just a movie and not factual  :)

bradistani

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2012, 05:12:53 PM »
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I liked Taken and will certainly watch Taken 2 (when it comes on Netflix).  :D





'embarrassed'  ??? taken was a great little ass kicking romp.. sadly, i hear the sequel doesn't match up to the first.. download for me i'm afraid !

JasonH

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Re: Taken 2
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2012, 08:46:30 AM »
I watched Taken 2 a few days ago at the cinema - I only went because Skyfall was packed out.

I wasn't disappointed - it's not as good as the first but still a good movie - would recommend, if only for download, but it's definitely a decent film.