The sequel to the surprise 2008 hit Taken makes one fundamental mistake that was never an issue in the original; it makes Liam Neeson’s character vulnerable, something that audiences may not be looking for, or want, even if the filmmakers thought they were adding a layer of depth.

After the traumatic events that occurred in Paris just over a year ago, former government agent Bryan Mills (Neeson) takes a brief job in Istanbul.  Just at the moment he is about to leave the hotel and presumably head back to America, his wife (Famke Janssen) and his daughter (Maggie Grace) make a surprise appearance, and the three of them, now a family, become tourists and take in the local sights.  So far, so pleasant.

However, trouble is not far away.  At the funeral of several men previously killed by Mills, the chief of the Albanian Mafia declares that “…The man who has brought us such pain and sorrow…” needs to be brought to justice.  “We will have our revenge,” he declares.  Of course, the chief ignores the fact that all of the men killed were rotten apples themselves who had tortured, maimed and killed several people, not to mention the hundreds of innocent young girls they kidnapped and the family lives they ruined, but why let technicalities get in the way of what the chief sees a justifiable revenge?

The Albanians find Mills and his family in Istanbul and move in for the kill.  After a nail biting car chase and a race against time through the streets and back alleys of Istanbul, Mills and his wife are captured and tortured.  Kim, the daughter manages to hide away, though she knows it will only be a matter of time before she’s found, and so does dad, which is why he makes the call audiences have been waiting more than thirty minutes of screen time to hear.  “Listen to me, Kim,” he orders while trying to remain calm.  “People are going to come for you.”  “What are you going to do?” Kim asks.  What follows is the answer we all want to hear.  “What I do best.”

What follows, of course, is a full hour of bone crunching, hand-to hand combat, car chases, gun play, and an endless array of spraying bullets that seemingly wipes out half the country.  Neeson’s Bryan Mills is truly a one man army, the kind of action hero audiences love.  In Taken, Mills took no prisoners.  He knew what he was doing, acted on instinct, went head first into any situation and wiped out anyone who got in his way, and we all cheered.  In Taken 2 the pace is somewhat subdued.  It takes thirty minutes of setting everything up until the first chase occurs, plus Mills is not always sure of himself, and he becomes captured and tied up.  All of this vulnerability seems at odds with what everyone liked about the character in the first place, and even though he rises to the occasion, just as we knew he would, it takes a while to get there, and you can’t help feeling a little impatient with it all.

Unlike the first film, the fights in this sequel, when they come, are poorly shot and erratically edited.  It’s as if the film develops a nervous tic every time action occurs.  Director Olivier Megaton can’t help but chop every second of every fight into something unwatchable, and then when the action slows and we’re back to normal, the overly edited tic disappears.  It gets to the point that the very moments you’ve been waiting for, the action sequences, actually get in the way of our enjoyment because of the way they’ve been put together.

But the real problem with Taken 2 is that it doesn’t make much sense.  After the horrendous occurrences that happened in Europe in the first film, it doesn’t make sense that Kim would be willing to fly to Istanbul for another overseas vacation a year later.  You’d think she’d still be on a psychiatrist’s couch with no intention of leaving the house, let alone the country, and to Istanbul?  When hiding from the bad guys in a hotel closet while talking to dad on a whispered phone call, it doesn’t make sense that her father would ask her, “Can you get out of the closet?” when she never told him she was hiding in one in the first place.

Audiences less critical who are there for the simple reason of wanting to see more of the same without giving thought as to why it’s all nonsense should probably enjoy Taken 2, even if it doesn’t have an ounce of the morally questionable sense of satisfaction the original produced.  It delivers the chases and the gun play and even suggests how the possibility of a Taken 3 could take shape if the box-office for number 2 does well, but if the makers actually go for a third outing, please have it make more sense, have Neeson’s character know exactly what he’s doing without those moments of potential doubt, and direct the fights in a way where we can actually see them.  The explosions, car chases and gun play are exhausting enough without going for an extra adrenaline rush in the editing department; though on the other hand, when the last name of the new director is called Megaton what should we expect?

 MPAA Rating:   R       Length:  90 minutes     Overall Rating:  4 (out of 10)