Taken 2 - 2 1/2 stars

If you remember Taken, that was the movie where Liam Neeson used to be a special forces-type guy, but now he works in private security.  His daughter was kidnapped in Paris, while she was on the phone with him.  He went to Paris, rescued his daughter, and killed all the guys who took her.

Now the relatives of the men who were killed in the first movie want revenge.  And luckily his ex-wife and daughter just happen to be coming to see him in Istanbul.  So they are going to kidnap all 3 of them and kill them. 

I admit that this movie mostly recycles the first movie, but not as well.  It may have been hard to believe that he could find his daughter in the first movie, but this movie really stretches logic.  Even though he was hooded and driven across town in a van, he is still able to retrace his route using sounds.  He has his daughter throw grenades and uses the sound of the blast to lead her to him.  And he kicks a lot of ass.

If you can suspend disbelief, the movie is decent.  Not great but there are some good moments.  There isn't much humor, but it works.  I like that he talks to the bad guys a few times.  When they try to make him feel bad about killing their brothers and sons, he actually brings up the fact that they kidnapped his daughter, and many other girls before selling them into sexual slavery and ruining their lives.  They don't really have an answer to that except to say I don't care, but you killed my son, blah blah blah. 

I enjoyed this movie almost as much as the first one, but I can't quite recommend it.  I only recommend it to people who loved the first movie and want to see more of the same.  That may be a bit of a cop out, but too bad.