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Miss "Taken"

The first "Taken" was lazy. While an action movie doesn't necessarily require dimensioned storytelling and layered characterization, there does needs to be some sense of reality and engagement to create tension and excitement. "Taken" didn't take the time to create either. In that sense "Taken 2" is the logical next step.

Picking up more or less where the first left off, security expert Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson, "Battleship") is continuing his overbearing efforts to raise his teenaged (?) daughter Kim (Maggie Grace, "Lockout") and maintain a relationship with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen, "Lord of Illusions"). Alas, Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija, "The Saint"), the father of one of the takers that Mills killed during the last go-around, is out for revenge. When the Mills family takes a vacation to Istanbul, a short drive away from Krasniqi's home-base, he sets out to take all of them and, presumably, kill them later. For those familiar with the burgeoning franchise it will come as no surprise that Mr. Mills has other plans, most of which involve lots of slap-fighting, grenades, and not asking for help. His consistently ill-advised schemes wouldn't work out for most people, but as it happens his 'specific set of skills' includes defying the laws of physics, cartography, and sonology.

The majority of the blame for "Taken 2" rests squarely on the shoulders of writers Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") and Robert Mark Kamen (also "The Fifth Element"). Simply put, the screenplay is terrible. Just terrible. Besson would be wise to stick to his more common writing credits of 'characters', 'original idea' and ‘scenario', or find a collaborator who is more capable of focusing him. The screenplay, as shot, plays like a first draft. It has some potential but there are many obvious changes that could have and should have been made in the first few scenes that would make more sense out of the events that follow. In some cases the simple insertion of one line would have tied things together, but Messrs. Besson and Kamen didn't bother, perhaps hoping that the director would smooth things over. And, to his great credit, the appropriately-named Olivier Megaton ("Columbiana") nearly does. Mr. Megaton knows how to shoot an action scene, of that there is no doubt, and the rare moments of excitement are solely thanks to his efforts. The requisite car chase through tight, winding cobblestone streets is exhilarating, as is the hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, like so many other action directors these days, he clearly doesn't believe in the use of wide shots, and his work suffers for it. As to his ability to direct character scenes, it's hard to say, because there aren't any.

Liam Neeson, bless his heart, does give "Taken 2" his all, which is not inconsiderable. His physical presence is daunting, and he believably plays a civilized man capable of great menace. Delivering a line like, "Your mother and I are about to be taken", can't be easy with a straight face, but he manages it well. As for Ms. Grace , she's cute and all, but she really shouldn't be playing a teenager, less yet a teenager who can handle herself in a crisis. She pulls-off neither role. Ms. Janssen manages crying and getting slapped around well, which is about all that she's asked to do. Bonus points for anyone who can explain what D.B. Sweeny, Leland Orser, and Jon Gries are doing in this movie. Could they really be trying to squeeze a third movie out of this already-tired premise? If so, all involved better be prepared to deliver something better than this tepid, undercooked mess. As it stands right now, it's the audiences that are getting taken.