Runtime:
93 minutes
Directed
by: Pierre Morel
Starring:
Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Katie Cassidy
From:
20th Century Fox
Runtime:
91 minutes
Directed
by: The greatly named Olivier Megaton
Starring:
Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija
From:
20th Century Fox
So,
I figured that today I should see the sequel to Taken on the big
screen, given that's how I saw the first one and for the most part I
enjoyed it. Now, I knew that 2 had gotten some strong mixed reaction,
even amongst big action fans, but I still wanted to see for myself if
it was any good or not. I went and saw it at a place which is a
decent distance from where I live but they were showing it on a giant
screen, so I figured that would be the best way to see it.
I
rewatched the first one last night. I am sure I don't need to go too
in-depth on what the plot is, of the daughter of Bryan Mills (and her
pal) getting kidnapped in Paris and given that Bryan is an ex-CIA
agent, he uses his set of specialized skills to track her down. The
movie was ridiculous at times and there were a few points where I
wish the action was easier to make out, but overall that vehicle gave
a huge boost to Neeson's career and make him into an awesome old
ass-kicker. It was also just fun to watch and it was nice how the
early part of the movie took time to tell a story. Sure, it involved
a 20-something woman playing a 17 year old who was the typical
annoying teenager, but it's the thought that counts and like I said,
I enjoyed it overall.
Taken
2, though... man did I not like this film at all. What a massive
disappointment. To modify a memorable line from the first one, the
sequel should never engage in dick measuring with Now, I haven't seen
any films from the greatly named Olivier Megaton, but from realiable
sources I know that his previous movies (including Columbiana and
Transporter 3) weren't well-received. No wonder why... I am sure I
don't need to go into the plot here either. Via circumstances not
worth going into, Bryan Mills, his ex-wife and the laughably still a
teenager Kim are in Istanbul and the father of a guy that Mills
killed in the first film (it was Marco, the guy responsible for
taking Kim) is looking for revenge so they attempt to kidnap all
three.
Now,
that idea is certainly a fine one and an interesting angle on how
even if a bad guy gets killed, the family/friends of the bad guy will
certainly feel upset and sad and wish for vengeance of their own. But
here, that idea gets wasted... the movie is just plain stupid. I
don't want to get into spoilers so I'll try to be vague, but there
are times where Bryan Mills appears to have paranormal supernatural
powers to figure out the crap he does and get out of thorny
situations. I mean, it's to the point of insulting your intelligence.
And, there are such things as still a teenager Maggie Grace (who is
only a few years younger than I am, and I am 31) still not having a
driver's license. The movie does a wishy-washy job of explaining why.
Is it even a spoiler to say that of course in the movie she is forced
to drive a car? And yeah, she is still an annoying character.
Sure,
the story is stupid and totally implausible often; but I'd be more
forgiving of that if the action was awesome and pulse-poundings.
Well, maybe the action was that; problem is, it was impossible to
tell because there was a whole lot of shaky-cam and incoherent
editing going on. I mean, much more so than the first one. It was
almost nauseating watching all that on a giant screen. That made me
pretty mad. Then, how the movie ended... totally not satisfying, and
I'll leave it at that. How can you screw up the climax so badly?
So
yep, massive disappointment; stick with the first film and don't even
bother with this one.
I'll
be back Friday night.
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