Some movies that come out experience great success. So much success that a sequel must be in order. However, some movies don’t have anywhere to go with a second film, so the sequel is much of the same. So why force a sequel? The question is retorical because it’s obviously money, but that’s the point. Taken was a great film that people went to see because it was good and incredibly entertaining. People went to see Taken 2 because they liked Taken. I went to see Taken 2 because of Taken, but I knew it would disappoint.

I didn’t understand how this movie could even come close to its predecessor. In the trailer, Liam Neeson makes a phone call to his daughter, Kim, before he and his wife are about to be taken. How nice of the bad guys to let him make a phone call before they kidnap him, eh? Nothing in the trailer made the movie look watchable, but my friends and I just had to go.

 I really thought this movie would be at least a little entertaining, but it had no redeeming qualities. It was just laughable. The cool fight scenes of the first movie were nonexistent in the sequel. He used a gun a lot. Liam Neeson doesn’t need a gun. He has his bare hands.

Couple the weak, boring fights with the absurd scenes and we’ve got a terrible film. Here are a few scenes that stuck out to me.

1. Liam Neeson telling Kim to throw grenades.

When Neeson is caught, he tells Kim to throw grenades so she could find him. He can tell how far away she is from him by how many seconds it takes for him to hear the explosion. First of all, Kim apparently has a cannon for an arm because she fires that grenade. The grenade then pretty much blows up the entire rooftop somehow. Also, the cops are not called and she is not arrested.

When she gets closer, Neeson tells her to keep throwing grenades to the point where I just started laughing.

2. Kim drives a car. Neeson just keeps yelling at her.

Neeson and Kim drive to the U.S. embassy, while the bad guys chase them. As Kim drives through a highly intense situation, Neeson thinks the best course of action is to yell at her. The car chase is about five minutes long and the whole time Neeson sits in the passenger’s seat screaming, “Move, Kim!! C’mon Kim!!! Hurry, Kim!!! Keep going, Kim!!! Move, Kim!!! FASTER, KIM!!! MOVE!!! C’MON!!!” It was like a broken record and again it was absolutely hilarious. 

It was much like The Hangover Part II. The Hangover was a great success, but that’s not a movie that should have a sequel. They get hungover again, how hilarious and unpredictable! It’s the same situation with Taken. Oh man, instead of the daughter it’s the mother and father that get taken! There’s nowhere to go with these movies so why force a sequel? Oh yeah, money.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Taken 2 is an attempt to make a quick buck and much like The Hangover Part II an unnecessary and unfulfilling sequel. It’s put together poorly with little to no effort. We could only hope it’s so horribly received that it rids any ideas of a Taken 3.

I’ll give Taken 2 1 out of 5 cups.

As of Oct. 18, Taken 2 made a domestic total of approximately $92 million versus a production budget $45 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Taken 2 has a rating of 21% at Rotten Tomatoes while users at the Internet Movie Database gave it 6.7 out of 10 stars.

To see the movie trailer for Taken 2, click here.