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Review: 'Taken 2' Promises The Same Plate, Less Flavor, Smaller Servings

By Gabe Toro
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October 4, 2012 7:00 PM
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3 Comments

Reviews

There’s diminishing returns, and then there’s “Taken 2,” the next, and probably last installment of the “Taken” franchise. Of course, it’s a piece of a whole, only the latest in the body of work from producer Luc Besson (again sharing screenwriting duties with Robert Mark Kamen). But Besson’s intriguing late-career activity as a producer of savvy action trash reaches it’s nadir in this monotone punch-fest that is tirelessly rote in it’s stubborn desire to refuse any sense of ingenuity.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 20, 2012 4:22 PM
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0 Comments

News

Marketing movies is one part art, one part science and third part sheer luck, as studios forever try to make sure their films both find their intended audience and still have enough appeal for the magical four quadrants. But over at 20th Century Fox, they seem to care less about crafting a campaign, preferring to just show you as much of the movie as possible in advance. Just look at their rollout for "Prometheus" and "X-Men: First Class" in case you need any more proof. And so it goes with "Taken 2" as yet another clip has dropped.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 13, 2012 4:50 PM
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0 Comments

News

Advice to bad guys: don't underestimate Kim Mills. While you might think her father Bryan Mills is the only one with a special set of skills, that shit is genetic, dog, and it looks like Kim can pretty much do a standing leap from rooftop to rooftop. Welcome to "Taken 2: Tooked In Istanbul" where logic and reason go flying out the window.

By Gabe Toro
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April 11, 2012 9:02 AM
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7 Comments

Reviews

In the futurist world of "Lockout," most deadly convicts will be confined to MS-One, a maximum security prison floating in outer space. It’s not long from now (2079, to be exact) strongly suggesting the cultural shift in our society’s interest in interstellar exploration has gone from possibly exploring other planets to merely depositing our human detritus into the galaxy’s gaping maw. It’s a good thing most of these cryosleeping convicts are deranged, irredeemable nutcases, right?

By Joe Cunningham
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April 3, 2012 10:19 AM
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1 Comment

News

We’ve long passed the point where Luc Besson’s name attached to a thriller could get us excited, and we suspect that “Lockout” won’t be the film that causes us to reconsider that particular standpoint. Starring Guy Pearce as a wrongly accused convict, and Maggie Grace as the President’s daughter who gets kidnapped (AGAIN!!!), Pearce must free Grace from a futuristic space prison that has been overrun by the inmates if he is to clear his name.

By Simon Dang
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October 4, 2011 4:16 AM
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2 Comments

Here's a fairly strong cast conjured up for a small indie we've heard nothing about until now. Veteran Helen Hunt, Emmy-winning "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul and former 'Lost' star Maggie Grace will all star alongside Samantha Morton and Christina Hendricks in the feature directorial debut of producer Steven Bernstein, the indie-dramedy "Decoding Annie Parker."