Taken 2 (DVD, 2013)
This was a somewhat enjoyable film, but totally unbelievable! The action was great, but it too was unrealistic. The entire premise of this film presumes that everyone in every country other than the USA is powerless to act or do anything to stop this guy - Brian Mills (Liam Neeson). This guy, under whatever presumption, openly travels all over - armed with all sorts of weapons, guns, grenades, knives, tracking devices, etc. - and nobody stops him. First in Paris, now Istanbul! These countries have laws and penalties that make the USA look like kindergarten!
Brian is ex-CIA. Albanian white-slavers took his daughter in Paris and he went in and got her back. In the process he killed about two dozen Albanians, rich Arab whore-mongers and their hired mercenary bodyguards. Of course, nobody was able to stop him. The French government allows his plane to land at Paris (CDG) but both him and all of his equipment is entered. His old BFF who is in the French Government and is also dirty, works for the Albanians. However all this action takes place, people getting shot, electrocuted, killed in all sort of car chases, even shooting his BFF's wife in the arm. . . and he travels in and out of France without impunity! Unbelievable!
Now he is in Istanbul - supposedly as a private security contractor for some big-shot Arab businessman. His ex-wife, Lennie, who is currently getting divorced from her multi-millionaire husband, is also there with the daughter (from Paris - last year). Having wrapped-up his bodyguard assignment early, they have arrived to join him on what was supposed to be a vacation. But all goes wrong when the father, and head of the Albanian crime family, tracks down Brian to exact his revenge for the killing of his son, Marco. This guy wants to kill Brian and his wife and sell the daughter into prostitution.
Again, just like in Paris, this time Brian and Lenny are taken. His daughter escapes the clutches of the Albanians and with Brian's instructions, finds where they are being held and helps him escape. However, the entire storyline is absolutely unbelievable. She, an untrained teenager, is shooting weapons, exploding hand grenades, and generally operating without any training just like a seasoned Navy Seal-team member. Next, he is shooting all of the Albanians (kind of like Bronson in all of those old Death Wish films) including the crooked Istanbul Police working for them. Now, with the daughter driving, who by-the-way doesn't even have a driver's license, they are speeding all over Istanbul, him shooting, her driving, just like James Bond with a NASCAR chauffeur! At one point, they crash through an American Embassy guard shack and into the embassy compound - alive! All this, and with a simple phone call to his old friends, all is forgiven and he is back on his one-man manhunt for Lennie. A B S O L U T E B S! I guess if you are between 14 - 24, this sort of thing is entertaining - who knows, you might even believe it - but you'd have to be pretty naive.
There was plenty of action - often so much that you lost what was supposed to be happening. In the end, the good guys win and walk away just as if nothing happened, and the bad guys are all dead! Of course, the Turkish nation and the city of Istanbul just allowed this all to happen without any sort of recourse.Read full review
