4. Taken 2 (2012)
Sacrificed Its Integrity By... Dumbing Down The Violence I'm convinced that somewhere, deep within the collected footage for
Taken 2, including whatever was thrown out during the editing process, that there's probably a good movie. As it stands, though, the cut of the movie that we were all granted - theatrically, anyway - was embarrassing. Nobody expected a masterpiece with this sequel to the surprise hit which had Liam Neeson raging around Paris trying to find his daughter, but c'mon - no fair! The original
Taken was successful, of course, because it was a violent, balls to the walls exploitation gem - uncompromising in its violence, language and, uh, "sexy" bits. But when it came time for the sequel, the studio decided to sell us fans down the river - instead of offering us the
Taken 2 we deserved (i.e. a
Taken 2 that embraced violence on a R-rated level), we got a mild, bland and uninteresting action movie - one that feels compromised from start to finish.