Taken 2 (2012) - Neeson's in trouble in Istanbul in dull sequel

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Liam Neeson is back at odds with some bad guys in Olivier Megaton's Taken 2

 

Our patriarchal hero of the first Taken (2008) movie brings his sad ex-wife and daughter with him to Istanbul, Turkey, where he is soon forced to face that his old enemies still are out to get him.

 

Taken 2 begins alright, even though Famke Janssen (X-Men 2 (2003)) is not a very warm or exciting actress in this type of film. Liam Neeson (Les Misérables (1998)) struggles bravely with the hoodlums, but then the film seems to get stuck right there up until it ends. - The action scenes are too monotonous with countless sequences through narrow streets and bountiful fist fights.

Taken 2 is written by Robert Mark Kamen (Lethal Weapon  3 (1992)) and Luc Besson (Bandidas (2006)) and directed by Olivier Megaton (Colombiana (2011)). Its main problem is that it's a dull sequel to an effective original film.

Listen to the main theme of the movie here

Cost: 43-45 mil. $

Box office: 376.1 mil. $

= Huge hit

[Taken 2 premiered September 7 (France's Deauville American Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. The budget for the film is double that of the first film (22 mil. $), which was proportionally commercially more successful (226.8 mil. $). Filming took place from October 2011 - January 2012 in Istanbul, including the Grand Bazaar, France and in in LA. The film opened #1 with a 49.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another week and spent a total of 5 weeks in the top 5, grossing 139.8 mil. $ (37.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 37.8 mil. $ (10.1 %) and France with 24.4 mil. $ (6.5 %). The film sold more than 3.8 mil. DVDs and Blu-rays in North America, accruing more than 64 mil. $ more there. Taken 2 is rotten at 21 % with a 4.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Taken 2?