Taken 2

Cast:Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace

Director:Olivier Megaton

Indian Express Rating: *1/2

A SORT-OF sequel, more-of remake of the 2008 Taken about a former CIA operative (Neeson) taking on East European ganglords, Taken 2 just doesn't coast on its reasonably successful avatar. It taps into every cliche that marks such films, from the barely there dialogue to the now de rigeur chase across roofs of a tightly populated city (in this case, Istanbul).

The story concerns an Albanian deciding to kidnap Bryan Mills (Neeson) along with ex-wife (Janssen) and daughter (Grace) for having killed his son the last time round. Mills had killed the son as he had kidnapped his daughter to sell her into the sex trade. However, the Albanian isn't interested in the details, and neither is Mills -- far from it as he and his daughter decimate the Albanian's entire troupe of hoodlums with a few Turkish policemen thrown in.

The daughter is amply helped by her iPhone (a detail we are not supposed to miss), and not so much by her knowledge of Istanbul. When Mills tells his daughter how Turkey bridges the East and the West, she asks impressed: "How do you know all this stuff?" The former CIA top-shot shrugs: "I read it in a book on my way here."

ALSO READ

Michael Jackson not biological father of his children?

I am single, says Sonam Kapoor

Salman Khan sends water to drought affected regions in Maharashtra

Sanjay Dutt lends his support to NGO