Taken 2

What an utter disappointment. Like many fans of the original Taken, I was looking forward to a sequel to see if it could match or in any way surpass the original. I am afraid that as as sequel I am left perplexed at the lack of any tension, real action and pace in the film. The villains were not as nasty as they should be- after all they were seeking revenge for the slaughter of friends and family and all appeared not all intimidating. There was no sharp dialogue and some scenes bordered on the risible especially when Liam Neeson was trying to give directions to his daughter on his whereabouts. The finale was rushed and overall the film lacked any bite or interest. Dull, unimaginative-only Liam Neeson kept what glimmer of hopes alive by his solid acting. However, a real shame the film could not even match or equal the original. Do not waste your time- see the original Taken and leave this sequel alone.

Thrilling and violent movie with a phenomenal Liam Neeson as merciless avenger father . First they took his daughter , now they're coming for him. Retired CIA operative Mills (Liam Neeson) invites his teenage daughter Kim and his ex-wife Lenore, who has separated from her second husband, to spend a couple of days in Istanbul where he is working . Meanwhile , his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) has fallen in love with a young named Jamie (Luke Grimes, though Diego Boneta and Xavier Samuel auditioned for the role that went to Luke) . In Istanbul, Bryan Mills and his wife (Famke Janssen) are taken hostage by a kidnapper called Murad Krasniqi (Rade Sherbedgia) whose son Mills killed while rescuing his daughter, issues narrrated in the former installment . Bryan enlists his daughter to help them in getaway . Bryan swears revenge and retaliation against the kidnappers . He confronts his enemies in order to find out location his wife, and is forced to once again take up violent means to survive . He takes the law on his own hands and acting as a relentless revenger .

This stirring film contains intrigue , thrills, chills, frenetic action, shootouts and violent fights . From start to finish the noisy action and fast movement are unstopped . Liam Neeson acting as hard-rock , two-fisted retired agent is top-notch . Being well accompanied by Maggie Grace as daughter and Famke Janssen as his ex-wife , repeating efficiently their previous roles . Secondary cast is frankly good, such as Rade Sherbedgia, Jon Gries , Luke Grimes , D.B.Sweeney and Leland Orser , among others . Nice cinematography by cameraman Romain Lacourbas , using Steadicam and zooms with numerous locations from Istambul . The musician Nathaniel Mechaly creates a thrilling , moving soundtrack fitting to frantic action . Lavishly produced by the successful French producer and director Luc Besson from his production company Eurocorps . The flick was compellingly directed by Oliver Meghaton who had previously directed other nice action films, such as ¨Transporter 3¨ with Jason Statham , ¨The red siren¨ with Asia Argento and ¨Colombiana¨ with Zoe Saldana , also produced by Luc Besson . Megaton was formerly a graffiti artist and took his name from his birthday : the 6th of August 1965 is the 20th anniversary of the dropping of the Hiroshima A-bomb . Rating: Better than average sequel , well worth seeing. The picture will appeal to explosive action fans and Liam Neeson fans .

The movie was very good and Liam Neeson is one my favourite actors. it is great that Liam Neeson visited Turkey. I am sure that he impressed very much while he was there. However I just hated director's point of view about Istanbul, and Turkey. In some scenes you see some women wearing pitch black clothes as if they live in a country governed by Islamic rules . No!!! Turkey is not like that!!! Its constitution is more democratic than many 'democratic' countries in the world. And especially women had their rights before many 'democratic' countries in the world. For example Turkish women can vote or can be elected since 1934! Just check the history. You will see Turkish women had such rights before millions of others women living in other countries. But, I do not understand why there is not any Turkish women seen in the movie. All the movie was taken in very weird and suburban areas, and you do not see any women, but the guys. This is not Iran, this is Istanbul! I am very sorry about the director's attitude and I did not like it at all.

Turkey is a secular, democratic and modern country. You can see the people with very modern looking all over the city, not ninjas! The people of Turkey do not wear such a pitch black clothes like the people living in an Islamic country. Not only the appearance, but also the thoughts are modern and contemporary in Turkey! Why did director say a big lie to the world? Is there a political reason? Should a director act like a horrible politician?

I am fed up with seeing such horrible movies hiding the truth! Make movie of what you see, not hide the truth!

Movie certainly deserves 7 out of 10, but the director does not deserve even 0!

I hope my review was useful to correct some mistakes/lies about Istanbul...

What can I say? It's watchable and has a lot of action, but nowhere near as good as the first in the series. The overall plot was fine, but the writing just wasn't great. Liam Neeson being the brilliant actor that he is makes it watchable.

The sequel which could have started off one of the best action franchises of all time but ultimately fell flat. The movie is poorly directed by Olivier Megaton who over used shaky cam, the writing is cliched and stupid but to be honest I can't help but like it for being so bad, there is some redeeming factors like Liam Neeson who always puts in a great performance but overall the film is stupid and that's why I like it.