A lame and desperate attempt to milk off the success of the first. It did succeed though, but not artistically. It is a let-down in a number of ways:
- The classic silliness that is seen in too many action movies, like leaving the hero unwatched for large periods of time, so as to give him a chance to escape.
- Having inexperienced people perform miracles, like the supreme driving skill of the daughter.
- The lazy, overly-frantic editing technique that gives the illusion that some hard-core action is taking place... the sort where you cannot figure out exactly what is happening. You will often notice continuity errors in such sequences.
The villain was also very uninteresting, and his utterances extremely stupid and performance very unconvincing. A person at his level needs a better script (or at least that is my idea of a high-ranking criminal).
One thing I appreciated though is the great suspense the director managed to pull off, especially during the first half. Also, I did not find Liam Neeson as fearsome and convincing as the first time, but the great efficiency of his character still impressed in a way, like when he was guiding his daughter to find him.