If there is anybody who knows how to take a good concept, franchise it, and drive it into the ground, it’s Luc Besson. We’ve seen him do it with his Arthur, Taxi, Transporter and District 13 series, and now he’s looking to do it once more with Taken 2.
The film’s plot is still in development, but we can only suspect that once again ex-super agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has to once again use his ruthless tactics to hunt down a gang of kidnappers. We can only hope that Besson doesn’t go the way of Hangover 2 and just change the location to Thailand and add a 2 to the end of the title.
Besson has also named the film’s director, who will be none other than Olivier Megaton. This should come as no surprise as Megaton and Besson have previously worked together on Transporter 3, as well as the upcoming film Colombiana, which is basically just Joe Wright’s Hanna, but in Bogota.
Its hard to say whether or not the Taken franchise will be one worth sticking out. The first film was glorious, but Besson’s sequels usually tend to just dissipate into cheap thrills and eye candy by the 3rd installment. It is hard to go wrong with Liam Neeson as your lead, but with Wrath of The Titans looming in the distance, Taken 2 could mark the beginning of a career slump for Neeson.
