4. Too PG-13, Not 18 Enough
Call me crazy but it is my opinion that a sequel should be used as an opportunity to enhance the original tale, rather than diminish it. As such, shouldn't all the elements that made its predecessor popular, and memorable, be heightened and improved upon the next time around? Sadly, this just wasn't the case in Taken 2. The whole plot just felt contrived, repetitive and, if I'm honest, there was no real sense of danger, or urgency, surrounding the characters. It felt more like a watered down, teen version of the original. For example, when Bryan's ex-wife/semi-love interest, Lenore (Famke Janssen), is captured by the Albanian gang (along with him) they decide the best way to torment Bryan is to hang Lenore upside down by a chain, in front of him, and wait for all the blood to rush to her head. Eh? Okay that might become a bit more of an alarming scenario after a few hours, but its hardly going to kill her instantly is it? What's most unfortunate is that this is as about as chilling as the threats get. I realise the ringleader this time round is an old man, instead of his younger, viler son, Marko. But seriously? How can you compare this with the first movie when we see young, teenage girls being injected with drugs and, basically, being raped by gang members, Taken 2 felt a bit Disney in comparison.