"TAKEN 2"
Based upon characters created by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen
Screenplay Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen
Directed by Olivier Megaton
*** (three stars)
Lord help me, I think I would actually sit through "Taken 3" after being so entertained with this one.
Dear readers, I sincerely hope that you do not think that I have completely departed from my senses with that statement and star rating but I have to say that "Taken 2," the sequel to the surprise box office smash from a little over four years ago, was an undeniably entertaining experience but not quite for the reasons that you may think.
Yes, and like its predecessor, "Taken 2" is another dark thrill ride that aims its intentions towards viewers' jingoistic fears of those scary, swarthy, nefariously minded individuals overseas and the promise of nasty, violent retribution against our attackers and it does indeed deliver the goods in ways that the inexcusably horrific "A Good Day To Die Hard" didn't even bother to attempt. But for me, this film is one in which the characters are, and remain, dead serious then entire time but the movie itself plays as sheer unadulterated, and completely unintended, comedy...and believe me, sometimes unintended comedy is even better than mainstream comedy films. Whether you are looking for action or laughs or both, "Taken 2" does indeed get its messy job done very confidently.
As with the latest entry in the "Die Hard" series, the actual plot line of "Taken 2" can also be described in a sentence. While on a family vacation to Istanbul, one-man CIA task force Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is forced to spring into mad dog fury once again as he is targeted by the evil Murad (Rade Serbedzija), who wants to avenge the death of his son (whom Bryan killed in the first film) by capturing Bryan's ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Yet, what "Taken 2" accomplishes with this wisp of a story unlike the latest "Die Hard" film is that is actually wants to bother with telling a story and keeping this film conceptually in lock step with the previous entry. So, yes, we do have a few scenes during the film's first third that re-establishes the struggles Bryan has with connecting and re-connecting with his fractured family. We do have the sense that Kim is still dealing with the trauma of having almost been sold into white slavery in the previous film. You know that little certain something known as character development..such as it is for a movie like this one but be glad it was there at all in any fashion.
I have to say that I did appreciated how Besson, Kamen and Megaton did take their story and film seriously enough to bother to create a certain amount of tension with the inevitable capture of Lenore. The film also and thankfully never collapsed into self-referential humor as every moment was played as straight as possible. This was indeed a wise move because if the filmmakers at any point treated "Taken 2" as a joke, then why should audiences care about anything that happens to Mills and his family at all? Furthermore, and regardless of the ADD editing and cinematography, the action sequences are ferociously paced and presented with the same vengeful, relentless retaliation as the first film, giving us a sense of that palpable and primal sense of unrepentant justice that I think was a highly perceptive nerve for the filmmakers to tap into the first time around. So, of course, that same nerve is tapped again and again and again (to enormous box office effect for the second time) throughout this sequel which, also like its predecessor, magically escaped an R rating despite the copious amounts of violence on display. Perhaps it was due to the unstoppable wavering of the dreaded shaky cam...
The laughs of "Taken 2" arrived for me at the pure preposterous nature of the entire enterprise which is essentially a variation of what Roger Ebert has long identified as "The Idiot Plot," that mysterious element of the story that if it happened or did not happen then the movie would immediately be over. Like for instance, after the horrors the Mills family endured in the first film, why for Pete's sakes, would this family ever decide to travel outside of the United States again, and to Istanbul no less! But in order for this film to even exist, someone has to get themselves "Taken" to get Liam Neeson back into his mad dog status. So, logic be damned.
Once the plot does indeed kick itself into full gear, we are treated to one sequence after another that just had me howling. First of all, absolutely no one in this film ever tries to be remotely inconspicuous. Killers causally wave their guns in hotel hallways while hotel employees, in clear view of the killers, call for security. Kim is actually told at one point to not draw attention to herself as she races for safety, a not so easy feat being a teen-aged bathing suit wearing white female in Istanbul who is scaling the window's edge of a hotel high rise. And the laughs only continue...
During one particularly tense moment, as a gun is placed straight at Bryan Mills by an assailant, one who has just mercilessly killed a partner in crime without any thought, for some reason allows Mills to take out his telephone and call his daughter to not only warn her that Murad's men are coming for her, but to also tell her where to hide and what to look for in order to keep herself safe. Mills, after saving Lenore from certain death not once but twice leaves her behind instead of taking her with him--of course, this ridiculous act serves to allow the movie to reach the full 90 minute running time.
And then there is Bryan Mills' unbelievably acute and outstanding sense of direction, which is downright supernatural to the point where I thought he was clairvoyant or at least Daredevil in plain clothes. I cannot even begin to describe the sequence where Mills, captured and blindfolded in the back of a van, is able to know exactly where he is at all times partially based upon hearing certain sounds like a street musician and a barking dog--a musician who is somehow still playing and an animal who is somehow still barking when Mills returns to the site later in the film for his revenge. And if his sense of direction is hysterical then the times in which he has to give directions will just make you want to fall down on the floor. How, for the life of me, he is able to know precisely where he is being held captive and then, through another lengthy and improbable phone call to Kim, explain to her exactly where he is through the combined efforts of utilizing shoestrings, maps, a knowledge of kilometers, interconnecting circles and randomly thrown grenades is beyond me.
But the highlight of "Taken 2" for me was the inevitable and interminable car chase which places Kim behind the wheel with Mills constantly barking directions like "Faster!!!" and "Keep going!!!" at her. This section was made all the more uproariously berserk as we have already been given the plot point that poor Kim still has not attained her driver's license due to her inability to parallel park. But when the bullets start flying and the U.S. Embassy is in reach, Kim magically possesses the ability to DRIVE that car, and with a stick shift (!), like the greatest stunt woman to ever sit behind the wheel and it is an absolute scream.
All of these sequences and so much more would make "Taken 2" completely hurl itself from the rails but it is through the mighty gravitas of Liam Neeson that keeps it bolted to the ground. Aside from however much money he is being paid, I have no idea of why Neeson agreed to take one more ride down this scuzzy cinematic alley. But truth be told, if not for him, this film, as with the previous entry, would not be remotely worth watching at all and it is somehow made the better just for having him.
"Taken 2" is not a great film by any means and honestly, it is not even a good film. But man...on a late Saturday night, I don't think I could have asked for anything better.
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