Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is back in the follow-up to the action packed movie Taken, now in Taken 2, not only has his estranged wife been taken but so has he, as the father of those he killed in the original movie takes his vengeance out on Bryan Mills, his wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) in what has been promised as an action packed sequel to Taken!
Taken 2 –Â Listen to me carefully, Kim. Your mother; is going to be taken. And people are gonna come for you to.
I am a big fan of Taken, it was an amazing film and when it was originally released it had so much of a buzz about it that almost everyone that saw the film thoroughly enjoyed it, sadly Taken 2 doesn’t live up to the standards of the first film, which is such a shame.
For starters Taken 2 has a lower age rating and is rated in the UK with a 12A, yes folks a 12A, giving light to the action sequences are produced in a way for a younger audience. It seems that the film has been cut to reach that lower age of the film going audience.
It seems that the original submission Taken 2 Â was going to be classified as a 15,like the first film. However, according to the BBFC, “During post-production, the distributor sought and was given advice on how to secure the desired classification. Following this advice, certain changes were made prior to submission.”
Upon further investigation it seems that three scenes were re-edited to gain the 12A certificate and when watching Taken 2, you can pick up on scenes which do look like they have been “sliced and diced” to get the movie scene by a younger audience, but why a 12-year-old or younger would want or even need to see a film like Taken 2 is beyond me!
Taken 2 –Â If I kill you, your other sons will come and seek revenge?
Sadly Taken 2 isn’t going to please fans of the first movie, yes it has all the car chases and set action sequences, but they do feel pale in compassion to Taken and the rawness of the original film is somewhat lost somewhere on the cutting room floor, the fight sequences feel rather cumbersome and Liam Neeson seems very slow compared to Taken.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s the worse film in the world, it’s still quite enjoyable, it’s just not Taken and the fact that you could take a child in of around 4 years old with you to see it, is just completely bonkers.
Overall Thoughts For Taken 2
You’ll enjoy Taken 2 if you love Liam Neeson, no matter what he does, you like car chases and have never seen Taken and there are a few who haven’t, if you don’t like over the top violence and you want things watered down a little.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
