The Taken franchise works because you know exactly what you’re getting and you’re satisfied when you leave. It’s not a high grade action flick. It’s a cheesy, low-budget, plot-easy movie that successfully keeps the suspense afloat from beginning to end. And because Liam Neeson is an unassuming action star who has made his career with more relevant portrayals, I rooted not only for his character, but for the idea that an actor can reinvent his career at any point in life.
The film is much like its original, centered solely around Neeson’s attempt to retrieve his “taken” family members. Though critics have suggested it’s a duplicate, I’ll repeat the answer that I had for that same criticism of the Hangover sequel: if it worked once, then do it again. The main difference between the two films is its quality. The sequel is more polished, the action sequences are better choreographed, and Neeson’s character has more opportunity to show his post-CIA knowledge base. There’s a reason the movie opened at number one. And it’s refreshing that you don’t need one hundred million dollars to accomplish it.
RATING: 3.5 DISHES