“Taken 2” is the rare sequel that inadvertently spoofs its predecessor. Four years ago, viagra 100mg
the original “Taken” became a surprise hit. That film, pills
which offered a flimsy but fun plot, advice
was action-packed and showed Liam Nesson kicking butt in a way that only Neeson could. Its sequel, which tries to replicate the same formula, fails in this lackluster attempt to continue the story.

In “Taken,” Neeson starred as Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative who sometimes took freelance security jobs for high-profile celebrities. When his daughter traveled on vacation abroad, she was taken by unknown assailants forcing Mills to find her and rescue her from a group of kidnappers who were trying to sell her to the highest bidder. Mills ultimately recovered his daughter and the film ended on a happy note.

The sequel picks up a little while later. The family of some of the dead men from the original have vowed revenge on Mills and when he travels overseas, they see it as a perfect opportunity to kidnap him and make him suffer.

That plot alone could have been worthy of a movie ticket but the story strives so hard to put things together that it ultimately collapses. As the story begins, Mills is being sent overseas for a security mission that should last only a few days. His wife is dealing with a break-up from her husband while his daughter is now dating someone new. When Mills goes overseas, he mentions it to his wife, who is tempted by the possibility of joining him.

When the wife and daughter suddenly arrive overseas, the plot starts to go off the deep end. Firstly, it seems a bit silly and unbelievable for the wife and daughter to suddenly abandon their lives to go visit Mills. These people had nothing better to do? But the silliness doesn’t stop there. It keeps going.

When Mills senses that he and his wife are being followed, he gives her a set of directions to escape that Google Maps wouldn’t have been able to plot out. And we’re expected to believe that his wife, who is frantically wondering why she needs to run, is able to remember even half of them? Then, when the two of them are set to separate, she gives him a romantic kiss as if they were still married? It’s a while later that their daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is walking on a hotel ledge, throwing explosives and running rooftop from rooftop trying to escape assassins.

Films like this don’t need a lot of logic to survive but credibility goes out the window a few minutes after the film starts and never returns.

The movie is so surprisingly satirical that many of the people in the theater I was in were laughing at how unbelievable everything was and how this sequel became a parody of the original. By the time that the movie ends with a lame scene of eye-rolling dialogue, audience members will feel like they were taken for a ride that wasn’t worth their time or money.