‘Taken 2,’ a marginal concept taken too far

When the thriller Taken came out four years ago, star Liam Neeson wasn’t quite believable as Bryan Miller, an ex-CIA operative who still kicks some serious ass. Now 60, Neeson struggles even more in Taken 2, a sequel that finds Bryan attempting to reunite with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).

At the film’s start, we see the obsessive Bryan on the way to pick up his daughter for a driving lesson – she’s had trouble passing the test for her license. Discovering dear old dad’s been ditched for a boy, Bryan humiliates his daughter by tracking her down within minutes at the beau’s bachelor pad. We quickly learn that trying to maintain a normal relationship with his once-abducted daughter and ex-wife can’t follow the discipline and routine he has in other parts of his life.  Determined to keep them together,  Bryan invites Lenore and Kim to join him after a  quick three-day security gig in Istanbul. Unbeknownst to any of them, Murad Hoxha (Rade Serbedzija), an Albanian thug whose son Bryan killed, has taken an entourage of bad guys to Istanbul to seek revenge. The Albanian outlaws quickly kidnap the Bryan and his former wife.

From this point forward, the film becomes a Bourne-like adventure as the perpetually cool-as-a-cucumber Bryan takes on a crew of killers who just keep on coming. The best of the action comes when Bryan and his daughter elude the bad guys in a wild car chase scene that puts Kim’s driving skills to the ultimate test. After they flee to the American Embassy for shelter, Bryan predictably heads out again for a final showdown with Murad.

While we’re fans of producer and co-writer Luc Besson (The Transporter, District 13: Ultimatum), director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3, Colombiana) doesn’t do much to distinguish this film from a slew of like-minded one man-against-a-team-of -thugs films. The dialogue is painful, the premise shaky and the camera shots and editing can’t hide the fact that Neeson really struggles with some of the fighting.

While The Expendables films can at least self-consciously poke fun of itself, Taken 2 takes itself far too seriously. And the kicker – the movie leaves a clear opening for yet another installment.