Taken twice?: a movie review of Taken 2 (4 out of 5 Stars)

Mckenzie Boone

Texan News Service

For all you action or adrenaline junkies, here you go: Liam Neeson is back at it again in Taken 2, his new movie. This time, however, the stakes are set slightly higher and the tables are turned. The Albanian gang returns, and this time, they’re out for one thing: revenge. And they will stop at nothing to make sure they get it. Bryan Mills (Neeson) steps back into the picture in an attempt to reunite his broken family: ex-wife, Lenore (played by Famke Janseen), and daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), once more. The action takes place in Istanbul, where a seemingly harmless family bonding vacation turns into intense mayhem when Bryan and ex-wife Lenore are. . . you guessed it,  kidnapped. This leaves their fate in the hands of their teenage daughter, Kim, who knows all too well how being taken feels. The question now is, can she do it?

After all, a girl who can’t even pass her driving test now has to run from gangsters, survive being held at gunpoint, throw grenades at buildings, jump from rooftops, and most challenging of all, drive-yes, drive-through the city streets of Istanbul on a high speed car chase.  Her father, who possesses the same tough guy attitude coupled with classic charm and little emotion, must have taught her well. One thing is for certain there are many surprising twists and turns in this storyline and the ever-thickening plot means there is never a dull moment. With nail biting suspense in nearly every scene and more action than one could ask for, this film indeed possesses the same edge of your seat action quality as the previous one that captured audiences four years ago. This film is well worth the price of a movie ticket.