Salon.com > Taken 2

The worst movie sequel titles of all time

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Despite his better judgment, Liam Neeson has signed on for "Taken 3," the third movie in the spy/kidnap action thriller series. Although producers promise that because “We’ve taken everyone we can take -- it’s going to go in another direction," it's hard to imagine that the movie will maintain its box office appeal. That said, "Taken 3" is only the latest in a rich tradition of bad or poorly titles sequels:

"Aliens" -- 1986, sequel to "Alien"
The title of James Cameron's follow-up to the Ridley Scott sci-fi film basically says, "if you liked 'Alien,' you'll like 'Aliens' ... because there are more of them."

The Last Exorcism Part II -- 2013, sequel to "The Last Exorcism"
So ... not the Last Exorcism, then?

"Triplets" -- upcoming, sequel to 1988 comedy "Twins"
Here's the rare case where "Twins 2" would have been a better title. Instead, "Triplets," as the title implies, makes the already improbable sibling duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito even less plausible, adding Eddie Murphy into the genetic mix.

“Taken 2″ beats “Argo” in box office

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:53:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Liam Neeson's "Taken 2" has defended its box-office title with a narrow win over Ben Affleck's "Argo."

Sunday studio estimates put 20th Century Fox's action sequel "Taken 2" at No. 1 with $22.5 million in its second weekend. "Taken 2" raised its domestic total to $86.8 million.

Affleck's "Argo," an Iranian hostage thriller from Warner Bros., opened in second-place with $20.1 million.

Ethan Hawke's "Sinister," about a true-crime writer caught up in supernatural horror, debuted at No. 3 with $18.3 million. The movie was released by Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment banner.

Sony's "Here Comes the Boom," with Kevin James as a teacher who becomes a mixed martial arts sensation, started weakly at No. 5 with $12 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, CBS Films' crime comedy "Seven Psychopaths," also opened to small crowds, taking in $4.3 million to finish at No. 9. The movie's ensemble cast includes Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson.

The follow-up to "Taken," the hit that established dramatic star Neeson as an action hero, "Taken 2" was dinged by critics who called it a replay of the original. The sequel has Neeson's ex-CIA guy up against a gang of Albanian goons out for revenge for their kin that he killed in the first movie.

Producers on making “Taken 3″: “We’ve taken everyone we can take”

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:19:00 +0000

After the massive, unexpected box office success of Liam Neeson action thriller "Taken 2," producer Luc Besson and writer Robert Mark Kamen implied that they might ride out the franchise's success a little longer: "We didn't start talking about [Taken 3] until we saw the numbers," said Kamen. "But then we said, 'Oh, okay. I think we should do a third one.' And Fox wants us to do a third one."

Hollywood.com writes:

In the first "Taken," Neeson's character Bryan Mills' daughter was taken. In "Taken 2," he and his wife were taken. In "Taken 3"…. "We've taken everyone we can take — it's going to go in another direction. Should be interesting."

Liam Neeson realizes the comedy inherent in any "Taken 3": "How many times can she be taken?" he asked a few weeks ago. "I mean, it’s bad parenthood, really, after that."

“Taken 2″ proves to be a box office hit

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:49:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Critics don't like "Taken 2," but Liam Neeson's action sequel has proved twice the hit among fans as the original movie was.

"Taken 2" led the box office with $50 million domestically over opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That's double the haul for Neeson's "Taken," which took in $24.7 million in its U.S. debut in early 2009.

"Taken" went on to become a $145 million smash for Neeson, the Academy Award-nominated star of "Schindler's List" who has become an unlikely action hero in his 50s.

In "Taken 2," Neeson returns as a retired CIA agent using his expert espionage and killing skills to take on a gang of thugs out for revenge against him and his family.

"He gives hope to aging men," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "He's done the reverse of most actors, where you do the action stuff when you're younger then do the more introspective work when you're older. He's sort of turned it around. When he's 80, he'll probably be kicking even more butt."

"Taken 2," which began rolling out overseas a weekend earlier, added $55 million more in about 50 international markets to raise its worldwide total to $117 million.

“Taken 2″ and the spy-movie problem

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Luc Besson and Liam Neeson and the rest of the furriners who made the inept and offensive “Taken 2” don’t seem to have gotten the memo from Jason Bourne: Americans don’t think our spooks are good guys anymore. Okay, I realize the situation is a bit more complex than that. I don’t want to wander into the “people like me” fallacy: Everyone in my parents’ neighborhood in 1972 voted for George McGovern, so he must have won easily, right? But I do think it’s true that in recent years — and arguably a good deal longer than that — movies and TV shows about spies have reflected our increasingly bad conscience about the hidden world of America’s global secret police. That’s just as true, or almost as true, for overtly right-wing products like the odious but addictive “24,” with its ludicrous litany of ticking-bomb scenarios and torture justifications, as it is for bleeding-heart, pseudo-sophisticated fare like the “Bourne” franchise.