Actors: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries
Directors: Olivier Megaton
Rated: PG-13 / Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: January 15, 2013
Run Time: 92 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
EXtras: 3 out of 5 stars
When I first saw Liam Nesson take on the role of former CIA operative Bryan Mills and his ‘particular set of skills’ in “Taken”, I was blown away. “Taken 2” is basically the exact same thing as the first film. I figured that they would have done something different this time around. If you saw the first one basically you can skip this one.
The film is based on a script by Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element”) and directed by Olivier Megaton (“Colombiana”, “Transporter 3”) so there is no issues with the action here, that is in good hands and gets delivered well. That is the only reason, I gave 3 stars for the action, the rest would be barely 2 stars. Overall, the whole idea just feels a little bit re-used and missing any fresh ideas. Let’s just hope that “Taken 3” doesn’t see the light of day.
Official Premise: Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the ex-CIA operative who stopped at nothing to rescue his daughter from sadistic kidnappers. When the father of one of the kidnappers swears revenge, it is Bryan and his wife who find themselves “taken” hostage in Istanbul. To survive, Bryan must enlist the help of an unlikely ally and use his brutally efficient skills to take out his heavily-armed foes one by one.
The release comes as a combo pack from 20th Century Fox with both the Theatrical and Unrated Extended Cut of the film. Included in the release is a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy of the film. The film looks great with its 1080p transfer and comes with a flawless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which highlights the action well. The special features are also decent overall. There is a “Black Ops Field Manual and Kill Counter”, which showcases Bryan Mills’ badassdom. There are deleted and extended scenes, including an alternate ending that runs over 20 minutes and I enjoyed quite a bit. “Tools of the Trade” is an interactive feature on his ‘specific set of skills’. Lastly there is a behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on the films elaborate special effects.