Gunslinging hero returns in Taken 2
Taken 2 (Devonshire, Lakeshore, Silver City, Star) 14A ★★★ /5
It may be old brothel advice, but some things really do work better in the hands of a professional. They know what they are doing, and as a result, we can just sit back and enjoy the ride.
It’s a highly negotiable equation, and as long as you feel you got your money’s worth and maybe even a surprise thrill, you can walk away a satisfied customer — and save the moral implications for the drive home in the car.
Taken 2 knows your number. This Luc Besson-produced thriller starring Liam Neeson as an overprotective father already knew there was an appetite for a no-nonsense hero with a whole lot of brawn — so the sequel trotted him out one more time, to kick some more bad-guy butt.
Neeson commands the frame as mild-mannered Bryan Mills, an earnest secret-agent type who now makes a living doing private security. When Bryan’s business takes him to Istanbul, some vengeful Albanians decide to kidnap his family in a bid to get even for the body count in the first movie.
Now, I don’t want to explain the complex plot of the original. But let’s just say this isn’t the first time someone in Bryan’s family has been taken.
The Albanians are now fighting a blood feud, and they will stop at nothing to take Bryan back home and beat him to death. They’re also looking to inflict a little bonus grief by slowly killing his family before his eyes.
These old villainous tricks don’t sit well with the hound dog in Bryan. He’s seen it all, and he doesn’t have time for the speeches or emotional goodbyes. If there’s a problem, he will solve it — usually with a gun.
Charles Bronson and John Wayne and just about every American hero who ever was strode across the landscape with an air of entitlement, and Neeson captures that core potency and confidence with his body — whether he has a gun in his hand or not.
Frequently, he’s empty-handed in this second outing, necessitating a MacGyver moment or two, but the reason Taken 2 works as well as it does is the swollen sense of confidence.
Even when the camera coverage is mismatched and the dialogue feels a little lacking, Taken 2 has so much understated machismo fuelling the central character that we can’t help but be seduced by the constant car crashes and gunplay.
It all comes down to Neeson’s screen presence. Despite his massive form, he conveys vulnerability, and that’s the key to any successful hero story, otherwise the protagonist is just a bulldozer, erasing enemies and moving forward with militaristic precision.
Neeson’s humanity not only ensures the film has a likable, accessible character in the middle, it brings a certain lightness to the dark content because he reads like a cartoon.
When Bryan discovers his daughter Kim now has a boyfriend, Neeson’s eyebrows lower the boom before he even meets the young gentleman. His protectiveness is so overthe-top, it becomes a comic motif — as well as the central motivation.
Filling out the landscape is a subplot about a potential reconciliation with his ex-wife and a big driving exam for Kim.
They’re all goofy little extras, but they add to the Saturday morning feel — especially when the driving lesson turns into an old-fashioned car chase through ancient streets.
The template is reliable because executive producer Besson perfected the formula with his Femme Nikita and Professional films. He understands how to make action movies with heart because he creates a gooey, chewy middle with his highly flawed central character.
They are highly unrealistic movies. Not only are we supposed to believe one man can overcome a small army of gunmen, there’s one scene in Taken 2 where Kim starts throwing hand grenades into the streets of Istanbul — just so her dad can figure out where she is by the time between explosions.
There is no collateral damage. The same goes for the massive car chases that leave half the police fleet with wheels in the air.
The only people who get hurt in this movie are the ones who deserve Bryan’s wrath, and that actually brings up the one moral point this movie has to offer as the villain explains his tireless chase for revenge: Even your enemy is someone’s son.
Fortunately, the speech doesn’t last long. Bryan isn’t big on talk. He’s a man of action, and Taken 2 lets him do what he does best: Karate chop, roundhouse kick and empty the clip into one poor bastard after another.