Sometimes – only sometimes – under a blue moon will a sequel be on par with it's predecessor. Taken 2 is a clear cut case of this rule. Taken 1 told a story that audiences hadn't seen in a while. A daughter is adducted on a trip to Europe and Liam Neeson, the overprotective dad, goes hunting for her kidnappers. It's one of those movies where bad guys just keep dying.... and dying.
Taken 2 lives up to that same level of death. Liam Neeson kills everyone. It gets tiring.
We get it, a hollywood producer sitting in an L.A. office somewhere decided that turing a half way decent film into a franchise would earn him that big bonus. We know that producers sometimes force a sequel that shouldn't be made in the first place. Taken 2 is that atypical sequel we all know and despise.
Taken 2 lives up to that same level of death. Liam Neeson kills everyone. It gets tiring.
We get it, a hollywood producer sitting in an L.A. office somewhere decided that turing a half way decent film into a franchise would earn him that big bonus. We know that producers sometimes force a sequel that shouldn't be made in the first place. Taken 2 is that atypical sequel we all know and despise.
We know that sequels (and prequels) are notoriously bad. It's a given fact that as film students, we can be an excellent judge of a film's story and quality. We can spot when the 'Hollywood Industrial Complex' tries to pull a fast one on us. We're better than sequels like this.
We're better than Taken 2. Taken 2 is a weak attempt at an exciting thriller. Stereotypes permeate the plot line. The writer has decided to play up the Middle Eastern/Muslim card this time, turning the characters into something we've all seen before. It's a cheap and quick way to play off the fears of the American audience, while offending the vast majority of the Muslim community.
Plain and simple this movie is just boring. The unimaginative storyline is predictable and boring. Essentially every White character that wasn't kidnapped last movie was kidnapped this time.
Instead of Liam Neeson hunting down the bad guys, he and his wife have been kidnapped and will be executed when they are brought to Afghanistan. The bad guys want revenge for all of the bad guys killed in the first movie. And now, the 17 year-old daughter has to come save her parents.
Plain and simple this movie is just boring. The unimaginative storyline is predictable and boring. Essentially every White character that wasn't kidnapped last movie was kidnapped this time.
Instead of Liam Neeson hunting down the bad guys, he and his wife have been kidnapped and will be executed when they are brought to Afghanistan. The bad guys want revenge for all of the bad guys killed in the first movie. And now, the 17 year-old daughter has to come save her parents.
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