..........and the but was the major problem because the first movies rating was a 15 and this is a 12A (so kids under 12 can see it but have to be accompanied by an adult), this meant virtually no blood, no sound when necks were twisted the wrong way and their were a few, there was a decent body count as well but it still felt diluted or dumbed down.
The story follows the families of the bad guys from the original movie trying to exact revenge on our hero and his ex-wife (having more marriage problems) and daughter while on holiday in Istanbul, the kidnappings are put in action with Neeson and his ex-wife captured and the daughter on the run, what follows is over the top, a little far fetched but entertaining because Neeson does more of the same again with ruthless efficiency......
.......but the rating issue and subsequent dumbing down of the violence annoyed me but still worth a watch!
A rating system I once heard.....
A 12 certificate : The hero gets the girl.
A 15 certificate: The bad guy gets the girl.
A 18 certificate: Everybody gets the girl.
You know, I have kids and I don't see the need to make everything family friendly. Why do they have to do that? I'll just wait for the DVD.
ReplyDeleteI like that rating system!
ReplyDeleteHate it when a movie is toned down just to appeal to a younger audience. If it's supposed to be violent or bloody, just go for it.
I liked the first one but if there is no blood or neck cracking it sounds like this one will be disappointing!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, not sure if Mr Leeson will like this review. I can imagine his reaction
ReplyDelete"I don't know who you think you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for a bribe to give the film a fantastic review, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you change this to a fantastic review now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
He needs to be scared of me!
DeleteI thought it was an ok movie. Was decent enough to kill a couple of hours. But it was more interesting to pick out the sites that he was at, and seeing if we had been there or worked near it since we live and work in Istanbul! That was more fun!
ReplyDeleteTaken 2? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI thought the first one was decent, but I just cant bring myself to see the second one. However, Maggie Grace and Jean Grey might make it worth it.
i am interested, but only dvd interested...
ReplyDeleteAnother one I need to watch!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I stopped going to a movie that was not rated R. To much of the bits we like gets cut to make them PG-13 and PG.
ReplyDeleteDon't they realise an 18 will sell more.......
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last time I saw an 18's movie actually. I'm not a big fan of things being dumbed down either. I didn't watch the first one anyway mind. My guess is that a lot of younger people saw the first one so they thought "screw it, let's make it so they can watch".
ReplyDeleteI like the first one... but like others, I don't see why there's a push to make everything 'family friendly' ... it's not like they are going for the 'Home Alone' demographic with LN's daughter as a street-wise trickster in the Culkin role, is it?
ReplyDeleteIt has to be money?
DeleteThis is the way cinema is going - get everything as 'family-friendly' as possible to ensure maximum box office takings; cynical, but true. Adult-themed story lines are now the domain of television - HBO etc - with giggly popcorn shuffling, mobile phone jangling, attention-span lacking teenies clogging up the flicks..ho-hum, rant over.
ReplyDeleteIt was still a good rant!
DeleteThe trailers look good and I like Liam Nielson as an actor..me want see.
ReplyDeleteCheers
paul
I've sen this film given 5 stars and 1 star. So I guess it's a 3 star movie.
ReplyDeleteThe original film was given an 18 certificate when it was released on DVD. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Because Taken 2 has a 12A certificate I shall not waste my money going to see it. I'll watch it when it is broadcast on some terrestrial channel.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right mate!
DeleteHate the toned down crap too, still haven't given the first a view.
ReplyDeleteEverybody gets the girl - oh you just cracked me up!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll watch it when it's eventually shown on HBO or something. I thought the first one was entertaining but ridiculous. I'm kind of tired of seeing Liam Neeson in films lately.
ReplyDeleteI've never actually understood the sudden success of the film.
ReplyDeleteGood review - if a bit generous. I must confess that I was a big fan of Taken when it first came out. Fast-pasted, gripping and PLAUSIBLE. The second one seems to be just cashing in on the success of the first but sacrificing a lot of the things that made the first so good to watch. I think you nailed the main problem with it - to maintain the terrific action they have stretched credulity beyond breaking point. It pisses me off as Neeson is great and the premise of the story is a good one that they could have developed without doing the over-the-top American/Hollywood action thing that made it so bullshitty. Goin' for the money again - and with Cert 12 - the spotty little 'erbert brigade. Don't waste your hard-earned seeing it - wait for the DVD.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Doc
Toned it down you say....Oh well I guess I'll watch it on the box at some point.
ReplyDeleteChristopher
I guess I'll wait for Netflix.
ReplyDeleteYeah I've been wondering if I'll see this one. They're giving it at a local theater and it's cheap. Maybe, who knows.
ReplyDeleteDo all films have to have no sotry line nowerdays???? they tone down a movie fine! so long as the story becomes as dark and twisted as possible so that even a big action fan will not be able to know that the blood is covering only one wall and not all of them but it looks like hollywood can only either up the blood and the plot to a level that will only allow the most die-hard action fans to watch or make them so dull and pathetic that only a few can be bothered to watch several times. Rant over.
ReplyDeleteI will watch this because I am not such a great ation fan, due-to only watching family movies once a week and the occasional blood soaked shoot/stab them up. of coarse game of thrones is a nice refreshing bit of story, blood and adult themed televison
HBO is the future of story, Television is the best way to take a book and make it into a visual spectical. if only the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were made as such, it could have been all included and not altered by a certain director. ok the movies were good and I loved them but ever sice I read all those tolkien books dissapointment has set in, lets hope the hobbit is redemption for jackson.
People should stop pissing off liam neeson, think they would have learned by now.
ReplyDeleteI might just pass on this.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched the full movie yet, but I think it's just okay :)
ReplyDeleteLove the rating system at the end - made me chuckle anyway.
ReplyDeleteIs Liam Neeson the new Charles Bronson? I wonder if he's going to be in the Death Wish remake.
ReplyDeleteAs far as this movie goes, I guess I'll watch it if it's ever on Netflix.