by Mr.Movie Dude | ARCHIVES

After the events in Paris in Taken, relatives of the men whom Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) killed while searching for his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), arrives from France and returns to their hometown of Tropojë, Albania, for the dead men’s funeral. During the ceremony, Murad (Rade Šerbedžija), the employer of the men and father of Marko, whom Bryan killed by electrocution and was Kim’s kidnapper, states that they will find Bryan to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.When arriving at Kim’s home to take her on a driving lesson, Bryan learns from her mother Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is currently having relationship problems with her husband, that Kim is not there but rather at her boyfriend’s house. After Lenore’s husband cancels their holiday to China, Bryan suggests that Kim and Lenore join him in Istanbul, Turkey after he has finished a work assignment there. After being led to believe that they have not taken him up on the offer, Bryan is surprised to find that Kim and Lenore have indeed flown out to join him.

Later, after lunching in the marketplace, Kim stays behind at the hotel in an attempt to help her parents rekindle their relationship. While Bryan and Lenore are out, they are pursued by Murad’s men, and, despite Bryan’s efforts, Lenore is captured, forcing Bryan to surrender. Before he does so, he calls Kim to explain the situation and tells her to hide. With advice from Bryan, she is able to evade the kidnappers and escape the hotel to the streets of Istanbul, with Bryan captured. I want spoil the rest of this high voltage action film!

Back in 2008 an unlikely action star was born in Liam Neeson, the stoic “very serious actor” (and occasional Jedi) who, with one film, transformed himself from a handsome character actor to a powerful leading man. Since “Taken” was released he has battled all manner of foe — wolves, battleship aliens, terrorists, maybe a ghost, the rest of the cast of “The A-Team” — and come out on top, popping champagne, and probably smoking some kind of Cuban cigar.Taken 2 thus far have grossed $137,163,554 in North America and $223,784,627 internationally, which brings the film’s worldwide total to $360,948,181.

For its opening day in the United States and Canada, the film topped the box office and earned $18.4 million, $1.5 million of which came from midnight showings. In its opening weekend, Taken 2 grossed $49.5 million in North America, debuting in the No. 1 spot, setting a new record for the highest-ever October opening in North America of a film rated PG-13, and earned about $55 million in other markets. During its second weekend at the North American box office, the film dropped 55.8% from its first weekend and grossed $21.9 million while holding onto the No. 1 spot. The film grossed $3,385,094 in the Philippines on its fifth week.

Liam Neeson has cast doubt on a sequel; however, 20th Century Fox and Taken co-writer/producers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen are considering developing Taken 3. “We didn’t start talking about Taken 3 until we saw the numbers,” Kamen tells Hollywood.com. “But then we said, ‘Oh, okay. I think we should do a third one.’ And Fox wants us to do a third one. We’ve taken everyone we can take—it’s going to go in another direction. Taken 3 should be interesting!”

TAKEN 2 GALLERY