When you stop and think about it, the Taken series has, in a bizarre twist, charted the same course as the Hangover franchise (bear with me now). The audacity of the first installment took audiences by surprise, reaping the benefits through word-of-mouth, and giving rise to an unplanned sequel. Part 2 enjoyed a hefty uptick in opening weekend returns, but at the cost of plummeting critical stocks (read our review, for case in point). Money talks in Hollywood, of course, so that means The Hangover Part III – and now, Taken 3 – is on the way.
These trilogy-finales will stray from the formula of their predecessors, according to the filmmaking talent behind them. However, the proposition of another Taken movie is more enticing to me than a third Hangover flick, for reasons that will be divulged after the jump.
Taken was intended as a standalone release from EuroCorp co-founder/filmmaker Luc Besson, as co-writer Robert Mark Kamen discussed in a recent interview with Hollywood.com. The unexpected popularity of ex-CIA man Bryan Mills (brought to life by Liam Neeson with his gruff, yet monotone, voice) led the duo to write what Kamen describes as “not really a sequel, it’s a continuation story.”
Mill’s actions from the previous film fuel the proceedings in Taken 2, as Albanian criminals – led by Rade Serbedzija, whose sex-trafficker son was kiled by Neeson – enact a revenge plot (Serbedzija calls it “justice”) against the Mills clan, who are gathered for some vacation time in Istanbul. The sequel has a welcome European flavor courtesy of Besson and director Olivier Megataon, but it also feels somewhat tired – even with inventive sequences (ex. grenades as a means for echo-location) and satirical (or are they just hackneyed?) scenes that riff on what many would consider the current epitome of hip American action cinema, Drive.
Liam Neeson in ‘Taken 2′
In a way, though, the ‘been there, done that’ feel of Taken 2 is appropriate given the place where Bryan Mills is at in his life. The character looks more worried while shining his car to prep for driving lessons with his daughter than he does while shooting people. During a confrontation with Serbedzija, Neeson even delivers a monologue about how tired he is of the cyclical violence he has contributed to (you can probably make out the political subtext with ease). The point is, by the end of the film, Mills’ interest lies with getting to an even better place with his maturing daughter (Maggie Grace) and soon-to-be-divorced ex-wife (Famke Janssen).
Kamen has made it known that “We’ve taken everyone we can take [so 'Taken 3' is] going to go in another direction.” Taken 2, as suggested before, continues to progress Mills’ relationship with his family, while evolving the allegory of the first film – i.e. Besson and Kamen’s examination of ‘American diplomacy,’ as illustrated through Mills’ take-no-prisoners approach to rescuing his kidnapped loved ones. Hence, things are in place for Part 3 to bring the main character’s personal arc to a more satisfying conclusion, while also allowing Mills to reckon with the dark side of his past once and for all (albeit, without someone close to him being ‘taken’).
Liam Neeson and Maggic Grace in ‘Taken 2′
Taken 2 is as logically ridiculous and visually kinetic as… well, every other project co-written by Besson and directed by Megaton (Transporter 3, Colombiana). Still, there is potential for a third and final installment to cap off the political themes and character threads developed throughout the first two films (more so than with the setup for Hangover Part III, as we bring this article full circle). The watchability factor of this Neeson franchise, coupled with the promise of closure, is enough to keep me interested in seeing what happens next in ‘The Taken Saga.’
Did Taken 2 turn you off this series? Or are you willing to give Taken 3 a shot? Let us know in the comments section.
Taken 2 is currently in theaters.
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Source: Hollywood.com
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Yes taken 3!!!!
It would be awesome if her Kim’s boyfriend was a son of the Albanian dude
That’s what I’m thinking! That Kim’s boyfriend is the brother of the one killed in part 1 And his father put him in place just incase he got killed which he did! Now the son is on a mission for his brother and father!
YES I LOVE TO SEE A 3 ONE I LOOOOVE LIAM AND WITH SAME PEOPLE FINISH WITH THE PEOPLE WANT HIM.
YES! Taken 3 must happen. I’m thinking plot wise, that after wreaking havoc in the streets and running back to the US embassy (who gave him immunity and played like nothing happened and let him back on the streets has tightened US relationships causing the US to mark him as a radical making neeson have to run from his own government.
Of course it would have to start with him talking to his friends still in the mix trying to work things out till he is “detained” and then branded as a radical when things are not easily smoothed over. In order to clear his name he must retrieve proof of the sex-Trafficing while dodging both governments and make it back in time for his daughter’s wedding.
Taken 3… This time around Kim could be a new agent with her father Bryan as her mentor, but seeing as how he is her dad first he would of course think Kim was too “green” or just not right for the position, that is until Bryan is “Taken” and Kim has to come to his rescue. Bryan did give her a taste of what an agents life is like in Taken 2.
Taken 3 has a brilliant new scenario. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Peshawar, Pakistan comes the mind-blowing masterpiece of originality: Taken 3!!!!!!
The scenario is this; it’s 2 years later and Kim is about to graduate high school. Don’t worry: actress Maggie Grace will be supplied with anti-menopausal medicine and no one will know the difference (;-)
Anyway, she begs her father to take the whole family on a trip to Peshawar, Pakistan as a graduation gift. While he is a bit reticent since he’s aware of the threat of terrorism, and that the two sons of the man he offed in #2 are after them, he says, “What the heck”, and they go.
You’ll never guess what happens next: the two sons gang up with Al Qaeda and kidnap them, putting the 3 in a dungeon, left alone, while they figure out how best to kill them. Meanwhile they escape, kill all the bad guys, and Zero Dark Thirty their way out of that hell-hole.
The film ends with the remarrying of Brian and Lenore, who is looking better after massive Botox injections. Fade to Black.
I smell Oscars!
i think taken 3 should reflect more on the daughter… she should, after her
dad dies, get training from the fathers friend. and seek revenge herself. only to find out her boyfriend, is the son of the family the father killed. which the boyfriend kills her father… and it comes to the daughter taking after her father.
i think he should die. but not before teaching his daughter as much as he could… and the daught gets training from the fathers friend or a new mentor who comes in the picture as the fathers long ago friend, who is sorry to hear of the fathers dealth, or the daughter ask him to train her more… she seek revenge, to only find out its the old man son… but the plot is, not the son fron tripoja, but her boyfriend who is the son of the old man
i think he should die. but not before teaching his daughter as much as he could… and the daughter gets training from the fathers friend or a new mentor who comes in the picture as the fathers long ago friend, who is sorry to hear of the fathers dealth, or the daughter ask him to train her more… she seek revenge, to only find out its the old man son… but the plot is, not the son fron tripoja, but her boyfriend who is the son of the old man
If they really have to do a Taken 3 I think it should have nothing to do with his family. Maybe a friends daughter or someone of importance is “taken” and the CIA turns to Bryan (aka badass Liam) for his help.
Whatever the plot i think it should involve more of bryans friends. we keep seeing them as friends from and associates from prior goverment missions, lets get them more involved. maybe the one thats been helping him the most in taken 1 & 2. i think his family should be involved and now being happy again, maybe plans of getting married also but a mission from the past has now caught up with them and all hell breaks loose with one of them being taken..(hey I’m trying like everyone else ok)
I would like to see a Taken 3. I think it would be an interesting take if instead of a member his family getting taken to change it up. After making a failed attempt to take him he decides to go and takes one of the two brothers that was mentioned in an attempt to stop them from coming after him and his family.
The taken movies are awesome I love them.i hope you guys are going on to do the third one.
Everyone should be “taken” in the third one. Wife, daughter, sam, his car, fancy mini phone, and then he tries to save them, but only the mini phone survives. Sounds like an Oscar to me
Yes, those two sons . . . and their friends, but Bryan has friends too.