Roger Ebert Was Enthusiastic About A Liam Neeson Sequel That Most Critics Hated

Critics liked Liam Neeson's "Taken" well enough. They hated "Taken 2." Most of them did, anyway. Roger Ebert, on the other hand, absolutely loved it, and this wasn't the first time the esteemed critic went to bat for a middling action thriller.

When Neeson read the script for his action hit "Taken," he felt embarrassed. This was, after all, an unapologetically ridiculous, over-the-top actioner that probably seemed like the last thing the Oscar-nominated star of "Schindler's List" should be doing. Eventually, however, the Irish star agreed, and when "Taken" arrived in 2008, it was indeed a ridiculous, over-the-top actioner. But it was also great in its own way, convincing everybody that Neeson was a bona fide action star and thrilling audiences with its simple "secret badass dad hands out beat downs" story.

Not only did "Taken" gross $227 million on a $25 million budget, but it also reignited Neeson's career, which previously seemed to have been on a downward trajectory. Sure, it wasn't "Schindler's List," but it was a hit, and it shaped Neeson's output in the years after, so much so that the actor's post-"Taken" action movies have been affectionately dubbed "Old Man Liam Neeson" films by /Film. 

Amid that onslaught of "Taken" clones, Neeson also found time to make more actual "Taken" movies, though none of them lived up to the original. Unless you ask Roger Ebert, that is. The critic was a big fan of 2012's "Taken 2" and even gave it a higher score than the first film.

"Taken" saw Liam Neeson play former Green Beret and retired CIA agent Bryan Mills, whose ​​17-year-old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), is kidnapped by sex traffickers. Luckily, Bryan somehow hasn't lost a step when it comes to his combat training, and sets out to wage a one-man war on the men holding his daughter. His initial phone call with the kidnappers, in which he touts his "particular set of skills," quickly became the stuff of legend.

"Taken" was a box office success that gave Neeson an unexpected action star makeover. It wasn't a huge critical success, but it did manage a respectable 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers praising the action and direction while remaining acutely aware that the film was, as Roger Ebert put it in his review, "a completely unbelievable action picture." The critic gave "Taken" two-and-a-half stars out of four and seemed to like it, even if it was never going to make the list of movies Ebert absolutely loved. When the sequel arrived four years later, however, he surprised many with an even more positive appraisal.

"Taken 2" saw Olivier Megaton take over from original director Pierre Morel. Neeson reprised the role of Mills to once again take on a cadre of sinister thugs. This time, however, Mills was the one taken captive alongside his ex-wife, Lenore Mills-St. John (Famke Janssen). The pair is held by Murad Krasniqi (Rade Sherbedgia), whose son was killed by Mills in the first movie, prompting Murad to seek revenge. For some reason, that all amounted to a better movie than the first one, according to Ebert, who gave "Taken 2" three out of four stars and praised its "slick, professional action" even while his peers denounced it.

Whereas "Taken" pushed the Tomatometer to 60%, "Taken 2" only managed 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics attacking what they saw as a more generic actioner than the first movie. Roger Ebert, however, thought the sequel was better. It wasn't the first time he went against the grain in that regard. Ebert previously gave a perfect score to mediocre Samuel L. Jackson thriller "Lakeview Terrace," and while "Taken 2" didn't get a perfect score, it sounded like Ebert considered it.

"I have long complained that action pictures leave dozens of dead bodies behind and unaccounted for," he wrote in his review. "Now we see that Mills killed so many bad guys in the first film that a transport plane is needed to airlift their bodies home, and a mass burial is required to dispose of them." This connection between the first and second movies seemed to please Ebert, who broke from his fellow critics to praise "Taken 2" for its action and a "uniformly capable and dead serious" cast.

Interestingly, the critic seemed just as incredulous as he was the first time around. "What Kim does to save [Mills and his wife] may inspire some disbelieving laughter from the audience," wrote Ebert. "But man, oh, man, that girl has pluck, and can outrun the terrorists and the Turkish cops, despite having failed two driver's license exams." For whatever reason, the critic was more willing to forgive the film for its absurdities the second time around, and even seemed impressed by the director's name. "Olivier Megaton," he wrote. "Let that name roll off your tongue (Olivier, not Oliver)." Meanwhile, Alonso Duralde of The Wrap described "Taken 2" as "less a movie than it is a cinematic waterboarding."