Taken
Liam Neeson ’s career change forever with the release of 2008’sTaken . The actorexpected the movie to go straight to DVDwhen he was shooting it and think that the most he would get out of it was a head trip to Paris , but it ended up pioneering the “ geriaction ” subgenre of action cinema , turn Neeson from a well-thought-of spectacular thespian into a beloved gun - sum seat - kicker .
As with any movie that make more money than its producer were await , Takenwas come by sequel . And as usual , those sequel did n’t live up to the greatness of the pilot . There are a few understanding why .
Simplicity Was The Key To The Original’s Success
The primal toTaken ’s achiever was its simple mindedness . We ’re usher in to Bryan Mills as an passee - CIA agentive role estranged from his menage . His daughter goes missing in Paris , he flee over there to find her , he beats up a bunch of European gender traffickers , and then he brings her back to America . It does n’t attempt to refine things ; it just recite the engrossing history of a parent ’s quest to hold open his kid .
As the continuation tried to build up on the franchise ’s lore , killing off Bryan ’s ex and revealing Kim ’s stepfather to be a criminal ( which somehow slipped past Bryan ’s background check ) , that simpleness went out the window .
The Original’s Gritty Realism Was Replaced By Far-Fetched Insanity
One of the most awe-inspiring thing about the originalTakenmovie isits granular realism . Not everything in the movie is completely credible , but it is far more plausible than the average action thriller .
In the sequel , this Platonism was thrown to the wind as the action became increasingly far - fetched . InTaken 2 , Bryan tell his girl to chuck grenades all over Istanbul so he can gauge where he is .
The Sequels De-Brutalized The Violence
The firstTakenmovie somehow manage to earn a PG-13 rating from the MPAA . It was probably right on the edge of an gas constant rating , because the violence is really savage , harking back to the honest-to-goodness Charles Bronson revenge thriller . There ’s even a torture scene . The sequels exert the PG-13 rating , but play it a lot safer . Taken 2and3are nowhere near the boundaries of the universal gas constant military rating .
The producers did n’t manage how brutal the first one was , because they did n’t require it to make any money . But once it became a hit and the potential for a blockbuster franchise was there , they sanitized the violence and removed the grindhouse factor that was so likeable in the original .
Bryan Mills Became Invincible
Bryan Mills has always been qualify as the strong , deadly , quickest - witted CIA agent who ever live , but he took his own share of beatings in the first motion picture . He got ping out and tied up by the big guys at one stop .
In the sequels , Mills was much invincible . It did n’t count how many times he got shot , or how many car crashes he was in , or how many explosions he was virtually – he always pull through without a scratch .
Audiences Didn’t Care About The Sequels’ Stories
There ’s something key in the firstTakenmovie that gets moviegoers on the edge of their seats , abide by Bryan Mills ’ quest to save his daughter , because every parent ’s worst nightmare is a universally relatable fear and a trained professional fighting back is a hearty revenge fantasy .
But there ’s nothing in the sequels ’ storylines to make audiences deal what happens . In the second one , Bryan ’s the one in risk , which fans know he can easily cover . And as a half - baked riff onThe Fugitive , Taken 3is even worse .
The Sequels Used Liam Neeson’s Star Power As A Crutch
SinceTakenwasn’t conceptualise as a starring vehicle for Liam Neeson , its script was written without the noesis that the concluding merchandise would be hike up by Neeson ’s virtuoso power . Ironically , the movieended up giving Neeson even more star poweras he became a legendary action mechanism hero .
It ’s hardly surprising that the sequels used this star power as a crutch , relying almost altogether on Neeson ’s good luck charm , but it is dissatisfactory , because maven power is n’t enough to confirm two whole movies .
CGI Ruined The Sequels’ Action
Most of the stunts and effect in the firstTakenmovie were done much . There was a grungy , visceral timber that made the action feel like that of theBournefranchise .
In the subsequence , the situated pieces were filled with suave CGI that read all the weight and intensity out of the action . As always , the digital stunts expect horrible .
Pierre Morel Is A Better Director Than Olivier Megaton
When he first come up with the idea forTaken , producer Luc Besson brought it toDistrict 13 ’s Pierre Morel to direct . Morel was n’t drawn to the tarradiddle ’s activity ; he was drawn to the Church Father - daughter look , and it shows .
Morel did n’t return for the continuation . Rather , the 2d and thirdTakenmovies were directed byTransporter 3 ’s Olivier Megaton , who ’s nowhere near as upright of a theatre director . Morel is just the 2d approaching of Akira Kurosawa , but his filmmaking has a common sense of simplicity that ’s painfully lose from Megaton ’s .
The Sequels Placed Too Much Focus On The Dramatic Scenes
The dramatic panorama in theTakentrilogy are all banal and disingenuous . But it work in the first movie , because there was only enough drama to establish Bryan ’s strained relationship with his family . The relief of the moving-picture show was dedicated to the action at law .
As the series go on , the sequels dedicated more and more time to this melodrama . Each dramatic scene was more painful to watch than the last .
Liam Neeson Didn’t Care
Liam Neeson sort of phoned in the firstTakenmovie , because he expected it to go direct to DVD , but he at least yield a serviceable performance as Bryan Mills . Ever since the first movie came out , he ’s been swan doubt on each subsequent sequel .
But as long as the film kept making money , the manufacturer proceed dragging Neeson back into the part of Mills . In eachTakenmovie , he seems to give care less and less – and it ’s toilsome to find fault him , given the material he ’s working with .
NEXT : The holdover : 10 Reasons The Sequels Could Never Top The Original
