10 Movie Sequels That Were Basically The Same Movie

There's a reason that everyone called Taken 2 "Taken Too" when it first came out, because it's basically the same damn film.

The first Taken was a surprise box office smash that helped reinvent Liam Neeson as a middle-aged action hero, playing an ex-CIA officer, Bryan Mills, who fights to save his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from human traffickers.

Taken 2 offers only mild deviations from that successful template, then, with Mills' wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) being the kidnap victim this time. 

Admittedly, Bryan does also allow himself to be taken and enlists the help of Kim throughout, but for the most part, it's basically the same story of a grizzled middle-aged badass protecting his family from generic, instantly forgettable international kidnappers.

The less said about Taken 3, though, which feels like even more of a rote retread, the better.