Retired special agent Bryan Mills (Neeson) is vacationing in Istanbul with his daughter (Grace) and ex-wife (Janssen). Suddenly, relatives of the Albanians he killed in the previous installment appear on the horizon, and Mills once again has to do “what he does best.”
Few can truly explain the secret to the first “Taken’s” success. Luc Besson’s studio releases about five similar films a year, but this particular B-movie action flick somehow captured the hearts of audiences worldwide and grossed an almost indecent amount of money for its weight class.
Action-Packed Sequel
The only thing that can be said with certainty about director Olivier Megaton, who helmed the sequel, is that he excels at fight scenes. Jason Statham in the third “Transporter” took down five hulking guys with just a jacket, and Zoe Saldana in “Colombiana” went up against a gun with toothbrushes. Here, too, we are treated to a serving of memorable fisticuffs (the incredibly intense and absurd scene in the Turkish bath is unmatched) and fairly spirited shootouts. However, “Taken 2” is easiest to love or hate not for individual episodes, but, shall we say, for its unconventional worldview.
Stereotypes and Shifting Geopolitics
Liam Neeson is pitted against swarthy, unshaven men in sweatpants, black leather jackets, and crescent moons tattooed on their arms. They eat shawarma while watching soccer on TV and drive around in old Mercedes cars to the accompaniment of a screaming mullah. Besson has always liked to joke about national themes, but this time, the sheer assertiveness of the stereotypes is enough to bring a tear to Alexei Balabanov’s eye himself. All the more intriguing are the tectonic shifts in the arrangement of geopolitical forces. If in the first installment the young, inexperienced Western generation in the form of Maggie Grace could only squeal and call for Daddy, now they are finally allowed to come out of the closet, grab a grenade, and throw it at someone.
And they did quite well. That’s what Mother Europe stood for and will stand for, no matter how much you scare her with blood feuds.