TAKEN 2

            Here comes again the most awaited part two of the thriller film, Taken 2, preceding this film, Taken, which was released on 2008. Taken 2, a thriller, action and crime film directed by Olivier Megaton, started as Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) with his wife Lenore, (Famke Janssen) and his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) went to Istanbul to have a family vacation coming from the United States. 

As what happened in Taken, the first part of the film prior Taken 2, Bryan Mills’ daughter, Kim went to Paris with her friends to have a vacation. Unfortunately, Kim was abruptly kidnapped to utilize her as a prostitute in Albania. Now, Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent, after knowing what had happened to his daughter, he then went to Europe to find his daughter. The film ended as Bryan Mills killed all the abductors of his daughter, Kim who tried to sell her as a prostitute. Having been killed the kidnappers of his daughter, one of the fathers of the kidnappers who Bryan Mills killed in order to redeem his daughter being captivated, took revenge. As Bryan Mills and his family were in Istanbul, his foes planned how to kidnap Bryan and his family. Bryan Mills and his wife Lenore was kidnapped. Nonetheless, at this time, his daughter now have its turn to save his father together with her mother. The film ended as Bryan Mills killed Murad Krasniqi, the father of the kidnapper whom Bryan killed before.

Reviewing the film through the directing of Olivier Megaton of the French-American thriller film, Taken 2, the story of the film was great although it is already too conventional because we have already seen numerous films, which do have stories about kidnappings.  However, what made the film not so good is its storyline. The story of the film was very predictable. After witnessing the first scenes, you will be able to quickly predict what is going to happen next. The film does not help the spectators of the film to form witty criticisms because they are already providing everything on the screen. If the spectators of the film could provide some criticisms, yes they could give but just some sort of superficial reviews and criticisms. They are not making the spectators of the film to think but to just sit and enjoy the movie and it is done.

There were also numerous scenes in the film that are just fantasia. One of which is when Bryan Mills commanded his daughter to throw grenades coming from the hotel where his daughter was to one certain place. This is ridiculous. No police officer in Istanbul would allow that thing to happen. Not just in Istanbul but also in any other countries, who would allow you to just throw off grenades without any valid purposes. In addition, when their abductors already kidnapped Bryan Mills, he was still able to call his daughter via phone in front of his kidnappers and instructed her daughter some things to be able to get away with their abductors. As we all know, kidnappers are supposed to be bad and evil and so who would allow their captives to call someone? Another scene in the film is when Bryan and his wife were placed in a dark room. The leader of the abductors, the father of the son whom Bryan killed before, just left them their without any person guarding them to secure that they will not be able to run away from them. The story of the film was good but it was not well directed.

Talking about the acting of the cast, Liam Neeson’s acting was excellent and admirable. He is a manly, retired CIA agent but he has still able to manage to act in a way to show how he is as a father, as the typical father we all know that is loving and protective. He was able to show in the film the skills he has as a retired CIA agent and it looks like he is really a CIA agent though he is not in real life. In addition, with Maggie Grace’s acting, the daughter of Bryan in the film, her acting was great but I do not just like some of the scenes where she acted. I just do not like the savor of some of the scenes where she acted. Some scenes were acted exaggeratively.

Moreover, talking about the cinematography of the film, the shots were good and directed well. The scenes they made were appropriate to the place where they were shooting the film. One exemplar is when Bryan Mills and his wife Lenore was being chased by their abductors, the certain place in Istanbul where they were is appropriate to that particular scene they are trying to shoot.

Furthermore, with all the formal or technical elements of the film like scoring, sound and set design of the film, it falls under Formalist Theory. The music and sound effects they utilized in the film were really an enormous help to be able to make some certain scenes to be more realistic. When the kidnappers are chasing and looking for Kim in the hotel in Istanbul, the sounds being played as the scene is also being shown, were good and so the scene is convincing and the tension is there in the spectators. Diverse emotions are being build up.

(c) Judd V. Bantug