Taken 2

I never saw 'Taken', the 2008 predecessor to 'Taken 2' but I presume the original was pretty successful for this sequel to be considered. I presume there was something interesting about the original. I didn't find a great deal to interest me in this sequel. Actually despite all the noise and rushing about on the screen, I found myself nodding off repeatedly. Perhaps I missed the best bits.

'Taken 2' seems to follow on from the (unseen by me) original in a fairly lazy way. The title is scarcely imaginative. Couldn't the creators at least have had the wit of using 'Taken Too' or 'Taken Again' as a title? It seems that either title would have fitted what is presented.

Liam Neeson plays a security expert or intelligence officer - I wasn't sure which - who completes what seems to be a security task in Turkey - apparently entirely on his own. He is joined there by his ex-wife and daughter for a short holiday. Neeson and the ex-wife are promptly kidnapped and the daughter attempts to free them.

What ensues is a chase movie with implausibility piled upon implausibility to an extent almost higher than the mountain of dead bodies the chase produces. Are we expected to view this with a straight face? What does one make of a scene where Neeson smashes his way through the high security of the surrounds of the US Embassy in Istanbul, finds himself trapped with his daughter in a stolen taxi from which he rings a mate playing a round of golf in the USA requesting that he telephone the Embassy to have them safely extricated from the vehicle.

Perhaps this is meant to be a comedy rather than an adventure? When her boyfriend learns that the daughter does not have a drivers license he reacts with the sort of incredulity one might expect had he just been told that she has three breasts.

Most of the movie is set in Istanbul and with nearly every scene in line of sight of the famous Hagia Sophia there are some spectacular images. Otherwise there is little to recommend this film. If you must see it, save it for a very rainy day.

★★