A sequel to the 2008 action thriller "Taken" was probably inevitable, given that movie's astonishing success worldwide -- a take of $225 million for an outlay of barely one-tenth that amount. The makers of TAKEN 2 have stuck as close as possible to the original formula: the same actors, the same high-octane mixture of violence and pursuit, the same assertion of family values. The location has shifted from Paris to Istanbul, but otherwise TAKEN 2 could virtually pass for a remake. With more funds to lavish on production values and this time the advantage of a precedent, there's every prospect of similar causes leading to similar effects at the box-office.
Liam Neeson reprises his role as the retired CIA operative and concerned parent Bryan Mills while Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen re-enlist as his daughter Kim and ex-wife Lenore respectively. The story hinges on revenge rather than rescue. Writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (who also scripted Taken) reference the earlier movie in an opening hill-top burial scene where Albanian clan chief Murad Krasniqi (Rade Sherbedgia) vows to avenge Mills' killing of his son, the head of a human trafficking ring who had had the bad idea of making off with Kim. His plans are given a boost when Mills -- ill-advisedly, as it soon proves -- invites Kim and Lenore to spend some holiday time with him in Istanbul where his private security firm has just completed a deal with a wealthy sheikh. One car-chase later, and it's Mills' and Lenore's turn to be "taken," while Kim only narrowly avoids a similar fate.
Directed by Olivier Megaton, a journeyman helmer in the Besson stable (Transporter 3, Colombiana), TAKEN 2 is in some ways a more polished product than its predecessor, taking full advantage of its exotic locations and pacing its action sequences more successfully. Moviegoers who liked "Taken" and want more of the same will get precisely that. [EDITED]


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