MovieChat Forums > Taken 2 (2012) Discussion > I tend to be lenient on movies, but this...

I tend to be lenient on movies, but this really is not a good film

posted 7 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8822)
6 replies | jump to latest

I really do usually tend to be pretty lenient on movies and I try to find the good in them, but no joke, this is the worst movie I've seen in a long time. It's a real piece of shit.

The good: It's competently photographed, has clear sound, and the lead performances are fine.

The bad: Everything else. The script is lazy as fuck and mostly just stupid, the editing is poor, the action scenes are serviceable AT BEST, and worst of all the film is just boring. It's not even entertaining on a stupid level.

Here's what really blows me away: This movie made $376 million worldwide, which is over $100 million more than Blade Runner 2049. That fact makes me weep for humanity.

Bottom line: I don't know that I've ever seen such a significant drop off in quality from a first film to its sequel. This feels a lot like some of the straight-to-DVD action films that I've watched, but worse, and with a higher budget. I could not in good conscience recommend this film to anyone except for die hard action fans who don't give two shits about plot and just want to see guns and fighting, even if the gun and fighting stuff isn't actually executed that well.

4/10, which is about the lowest score I give to a film that wasn't made by a film student or someone who makes TV movies for Lifetime.

So. . . With all that said, anyone else have thoughts on Taken 2?

[–] redban (6644) 6 days ago

The box office figures are the result of the first movie, which was good. At the time, Liam as an action hero still had attraction too, as he didn’t start spamming this role yet

The movie’s biggest strength is Liam Neeson. Otherwise, it’s a stark drop from the first film. The first film had action, but there were also decent threads involving kidnapping/ sex trafficking, father-daughter bonding, and detective work. Here, the movie is just nonstop action, with gunshots, car wrecks, Kung-fu, and explosions. We needed more breathing room at times. Seeing Neeson work with his daughter and wife is not as compelling as seeing him work alone (as he did in the first movie). Rescuing his ex-wife is not nearly as interesting as rescuing his daughter

[–] ak47wong (608) 5 days ago

This movie made $376 million worldwide, which is over $100 million more than Blade Runner 2049. That fact makes me weep for humanity.

It shouldn’t really. Taken is an action movie (or action thriller). BR 2049 is a cerebral science fiction film and the original Blade Runner was never that popular a movie despite what online nerds think. The Hangover made $200 million more and there are countless other examples.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8822) 5 days ago

I guess I was foolish to think it, but before its release I actually thought that Blade Runner 2049 might hit the $1 billion mark. Obviously I was very wrong, but considering that it was being heavily promoted, and that the trailers looked great, and that the original film has come to be regarded as a sci-fi classic, and that Denis Villeneuve was regarded as one of the hottest up-and-coming directors at the time, and that not only did they get Ford back but Ryan Gosling was very popular, I thought the recipe for big success was there.

[–] ak47wong (608) 5 days ago

You were being very optimistic. If you look at this list of movies that have reached $1 billion (courtesy of ChatGPT), you’ll see they’re all very mainstream and mostly action-adventure or superhero movies:

1. Avatar
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Titanic
5. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
6. Avengers: Infinity War
7. Spider-Man: No Way Home
8. Jurassic World
9. The Lion King (2019)
10. The Avengers
11. Furious 7
12. Frozen II
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron
14. Black Panther
15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
16. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
17. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
18. Frozen
19. Beauty and the Beast (2017)
20. Incredibles 2
21. The Fate of the Furious
22. Iron Man 3
23. Minions
24. Captain America: Civil War
25. Aquaman
26. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
27. Inside Out 2
28. Deadpool & Wolverine

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8822) 5 days ago

Avatar being the highest-grossing movie of all time is unfortunate. I'm also surprised to see that Iron Man 3 grossed more than the first two films.

Last night I re-watched Heat. It's a better film than almost every movie on that list. It should be a $1 billion movie if those are.

In fact, I only see four films that I would bother to watch more than once: Titanic, Jurassic World, Aquaman and Avengers: End Game.

But back to Blade Runner 2049, I thought that the trailers made it look cool enough--and actiony enough--that it would draw in pretty much everyone who is into sci-fi.

[–] ak47wong (608) 5 days ago

Avatar was quite the sensation when it came out but I’m more surprised the second one was so successful. To me it was just the same thing, but worse.

Iron Man 3 grossed more because it came out right after The Avengers, which was the first big MCU hit.

My top four from that list would be Titanic, Frozen, Avengers Infinity War and The Force Awakens.