At the Movies...

[Rorschach]

Movie review: Taken 2
* by: Leigh Paatsch
* From: National Features
* October 03, 2012 6:00PM

YOU remember Taken, right? That brutally basic Liam Neeson revenge thriller from 2008?

Most action-inclined punters would agree it was fun at the time. If only because no-one saw it coming: the former Oskar Schindler mowing down a couple of hundred Albanian sex traffickers with extreme prejudice.

The story wasn't all that important. Those sweaty, unshaven blaggards had swiped a retired CIA agent's daughter. They deserved everything they got.

No, what made Taken a smash was the trashy prospect of seeing the once-saintly Neeson sticking his dignity in his back pocket, just so he could stuff some bad dudes full of lead. With the occasional knifing, amputation and strangulation thrown in for good measure.

In many ways, it was as if Meryl Streep had been cast in the lead of Kill Bill. It shouldn't have happened, but you couldn't resist checking it out.

Now we have Taken 2, an oh-so-obligatory sequel which had to happen (the first film ranks as Neeson's biggest US box-office hit as a leading man) but is all too easy to resist.

Denied the ability to spring any element of surprise this time around, Taken 2 flounders about without poise or purpose for much of its running time.

Same goes for Neeson, who looks ever so slightly embarrassed to going through these motions all over again.

Especially as his character, Bryan Mills, is pitted once more against those abysmal Albanian abductor types. By the way, they're still rockin' that imitation-leather jacket and trackpants look, now the permanent official uniform of all Eastern European movie mobsters.

The kidnapperly action transpires in Istanbul, Turkey, depicted here as a relentlessly corrupt and grotty metropolis (which must delight the Turkish tourism czars who bent over backwards to accommodate the Taken shoot on their turf).

In a storytelling switcheroo, Bryan's daughter Kim (played once again by Maggie Grace) is no longer the metaphorical female tied to the train tracks awaiting a last-minute rescue.

That job now goes to Bryan's foxy ex-wife (Famke Janssen), who was just re-warming to his charms when the Albanians nicked off with her.

There's a few funky set-piece sequences that pay their way - the bit where Kim saves Bryan from certain death with a shoelace, a marker pen and a hand grenade is magnificent - and a lot of grotesque violence of little value as well.

Best enjoyed by those with short memories and a longing for needless excess.

Taken 2 [MA15+]

Two stars

Director: Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3)

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija

He's Dad! He's mad! He's dangerous to know! All over again

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Well hopefully Leigh isn't right. Very often found him to only be part right in the past So I guess I'll be seeing it. My review... sometime next week.

[mantra]

YOU remember Taken, right? That brutally basic Liam Neeson revenge thriller from 2008?

I watched Taken for the first time a few months ago, although it's difficult to watch American movies generally now, but as this was shot mainly in Paris it wasn't too bad and Liam Neeson usually acts well. I doubt a sequel would have much more to offer.

Give me a good Aussie or English movie any day though. So much more realistic - although foreign films, particularly French comedies are almost on par.

[boxy]

I wouldn't have thought Taken was a candidate for a sequel. It was a basic, formulaic action flick. Plenty of loud noises, explosions, death (of bad guys) and a happy ending (she even got out of it with her "honour" intact... as if!).

Sounds like Taken 2 stands for 2 times the hollywood clichés.

[Bart]

Taken is a great movie and expect the sequel to be equally as good.
But as Bruce Willis said in Die Hard 2 "How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice? ."

[Aussie]

[DELETED BY ADMIN - Irrelevant to thread]

[Rorschach]

Taken 2.

In a nutshell, Taken 2 is... ok. That is to say it is a passable, yet underwhelming sequel. If "Taken" didn't exist it would be more than passable, but then, we have seen it all before, and we saw it... in the previous movie. I found the writing of Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen too French and too annoying at times, (dialogue-wise).

Like the original. "Taken 2" follows Liam Neeson's, Bryan Mills, as he's once again forced into action, this time to save his family, and himself. Relatives of those he killed in the first movie are out for revenge, with little or no thought about the consequences. Neeson puts in a solid enough performance as do the rest of the cast. But... little new or interesting has been added to get you in. Unlike the first movie, the suspense of the chase and the increasing pressure of an ever decreasing time limit, is missing.

Like "Taken", this movie starts slowly, then keeps building until the end, sometimes echoing too closely the original. But once the action starts you forgive the lack of originality, whilst being swept along on the roller-coaster ride. Even if it isn't as exciting as the ride you were on before. Olivier Megaton does a fair job of directing and the chase and fight scenes are well done if at times a little confusing.

"Taken 2" is, in the end, is an adequate sequel, but for those wanting more it will be a little disappointing. For me, "Taken" is the better movie of the two. The ending leaves itself open for at least one more sequel, but you have to ask... is their any point in that?

[Rorschach]

James Bond's 'Skyfall' soars: critics
October 13, 2012 - 12:11PM

James Bond is back and better than ever, according to early reviews on Friday, as the latest movie featuring Britain's smooth-talking, martini-drinking super-spy soared with critics and audiences after an advance screening in London.

Newspaper critics rushed to print and celebrities took to Twitter after seeing "Skyfall," with many calling it the best Bond film in the franchise's 50-year history.

Reviewer Robbie Collin at British newspaper The Telegraph said director Sam Mendes' Bond was comparable to Christopher Nolan's darker, grittier "Batman" from the "Dark Knight" franchise.

"Mendes is unafraid to let the quieter dramatic moments breathe ... and ace cinematographer Roger Deakins makes the wildly ambitious action sequences the most beautiful in Bond's 50-year career," Collin said.
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Geoffrey McNab at the Independent gave "Skyfall" four out of five stars, criticising the film for being "occasionally ... repetitive." But he praised Mendes for "throwing in far greater depth of characterisation than we're accustomed to in a series of films that are often proudly superficial."

"Skyfall," the 23rd film in the Bond franchise, opens in UK theaters on October 26 and in the United States on November 9. It is Mendes' first time directing a Bond film. The British filmmaker won a best director Oscar in 2000 for "American Beauty."

The 22 Bond films have to date amassed $US5.1 billion at the worldwide box office according to The-Numbers.com, which tracks box office performances. The last film, 2008's "Quantum of Solace," grossed nearly $US600 million globally.

"Skyfall," produced by privately held studio MGM, will be distributed in the UK by Sony Pictures Entertainment and in the United States by Columbia Pictures, both units of Sony.

"Skyfall" sees actor Daniel Craig return as the suave agent, on a mission to bring down a dangerous villain, played by Javier Bardem. Judi Dench returns in the role of "M" along with co-stars Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw, while Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe became the latest Bond girls.

Baz Bamigboye at the Daily Mail gave "Skyfall" five stars on Friday, calling it "pure classic 007 fare, back on firm footing after the less than memorable 'Quantum of Solace.'"

Reviewers on Twitter praised the explosive action scenes, Mendes' directing, Dench's darker portrayal of "M" and Bardem's turn at playing a Bond villain.

British GQ magazine tweeted: "Just seen #skyfall. Daniel Craig is magnificent - you will not be disappointed." The Times film critic Kate Muir tweeted that she gave "Skyfall" five stars, calling it "a return to classic form and a great British bulldog of a movie."

BBC Radio 1's film critic Rhianna Dhillon tweeted: "WOW! You have a massive treat in store for you! Don't want to review it on air in case I give anything away! It's just so good!"

British comedian Graham Norton, who hosts a TV talk show on BBC 1, tweeted: "Skyfall is perfection!!!!!"

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/jam ... z298tU39Au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds like it's going to be a big hit.

[Rorschach]

Skyfall reviews: This is James Bond's Dark Knight moment
* October 14, 2012 10:06AM

THE pressure was on Bond this year. His four-year absence from the screen after the letdown of Quantum of Solace and the hoo-ha surrounding his 50th anniversary celebrations always meant expectations would be high for his 23rd outing.

Add to that a cast and crew that has more Oscar kudos than most Oscar-winning films and some eye-popping trailers and you know that anything short of a Goldfinger or Casino Royale will be viewed as a disappointment.

So does Bond deliver or is Skyfall another Die Another Day-type misfire?

The film was screened to critics in the UK and US on Friday and the praise has been universal, with many believing it to be better than Casino Royale, something on par with The Dark Knight and the Bourne films. In fact, the word that most critics are using is "Nolan-esque"; Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes have given the series a serious edge and given Bond depth, much like director Christopher Nolan achieved with Batman.

What negative criticism there is centres on the film's running time - it's 143 minutes long - and the third act, which many felt wasn't as thrilling as the film's opening sequence.

Australian reviews of Skyfall won't arrive until next month - and although the film opens in the UK in two weeks it won't hit Australian cinemas until November 22 - so until then here is a taste of the first reviews.


- Kate Muir, The Times

Mendes has dared to raise character and motivation to levels unseen in Bond films, while still keeping the action set-pieces in London, Turkey, Shanghai, and a searing ending in Glen Etive in Scotland. The stunts are as athletic as ever, but the best part comes when Bond makes a death-defying leap on to a moving train and pauses, just for a moment, to adjust his crisp white cuffs. The Bond franchise is 50 years old this year, and the scriptless mess of Quantum of Solace may be considered its mid-life crisis. But Skyfall is a resurrection, and will go down as one of 007’s best.
James Bond


- Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

At the 70-minute mark, Javier Bardem makes his fabulously staged entrance as Silva, who, like many Bond villains of the past, is half persuasive and half-lunatic, has delusions of exceptional grandeur and is partial to explaining many things to his captive before he means to kill him. He also has a theatrically sexual side that brings something new to the gallery of Bond villains. In all events, Bardem makes him a riveting and most entertaining figure.


- Oliver Lyttelton, The Playlist

Sam Mendes has essentially made a Christopher Nolan Bond film before Christopher Nolan got the chance. That's not quite fair to the American Beauty director, who makes his own mark on the series (and possibly his most satisfying film so far). But it's also true that many of the qualities that Nolan brought to the "Batman" series are present and correct in "Skyfall," both in the good and the bad.


- Peter DeBruge, Variety

Whatever parallels it shares with the Bourne series or Nolan's astonishingly realized Batman saga, Skyfall radically breaks from the Bond formula while still remaining true to its essential beats, presenting a rare case in which audiences can no longer anticipate each twist in advance. Without sacrificing action or overall energy, Mendes puts the actors at the forefront, exploring their marvelously complex emotional states in ways the franchise has never before dared.


- Xan Brooks, The Guardian

Audaciously, Skyfall's most sexually charged moment comes not with the femme fatale at that gaudy casino but during the extended interrogation scene, as Silva runs his fingers across Bond's bare chest, then reaches down to part his legs. "What's your regulation training for this?" Silva teases him. "What makes you think it's my first time?" 007 shoots back - a tacit reminder that he went to Eton after all.


- Robbie Collin, The UK Telegraph

Sam Mendes’s frequently dazzling, utterly audacious entry in the franchise has less in common with its much-loved predecessors than Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. After its release in 2008 (when it left Quantum of Solace, the 22nd Bond film, trailing in its wake), Nolan’s pathbreaking superhero picture almost single-handedly reconfigured the modern blockbuster template. Like a wise old dog, 007 has studied it carefully, and learned some new tricks.


- Ryan Lambie, Den of Geek

Daniel Craig has long since placed his own stamp on Bond, and he once again brings an engaging, human dimension to this most iconic of spies. This is a Bond who’s variously tense, vulnerable, tipsy, embittered and as promiscuous as we’ve come to expect. It’s also pleasing to see Bond the detective as well as the man of action, as he uses his Sherlockian skills to entertaining effect in one small yet memorable moment.


- Simon Reynolds, Digital Spy

Also ticked off the Bond checklist is Q, reinvented by Ben Whishaw as a cardigan-wearing computer whizzkid whose gadgets are stripped down to the bare essentials: a Walther PPK with hand-print recognition and a radio signalling device. "This isn't exactly Christmas," Bond quips. "Were you expecting an exploding pen?" Q fires back.

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[AnimalMother]

I haven't seen any of the last half-dozen or so Bond films. Perhaps I may make an exception for this one.

[T.G. of IK]

Personally not overly keen on Bond movies, I've watched a few..Sean Connery..thanks wife . As far as "Taken" is concerned, saw it, was ok, not worth a sequel though. Sequels rarely come up to par of the original anyway.