The Final Cut: 'Taken 2'

(NECN: Erick Weber) - 'Taken' was the film that made Liam Neeson a bankable movie star.

In fact, the 2009 thriller went on to haul in over $200 million worldwide, and with that kind of success, a sequel was inevitable. But is "Taken 2" worth opening your wallet for?

Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the ex-CIA operative who mowed down scores of thugs to save his daughter from becoming a sex slave.

Well, this time around one of the those thugs' father wants to settle the score with a nasty dose of revenge.

The bad guys capture Mills and his ex-wife, leaving Mills' daughter, played again by Maggie Grace, to save her dad - oh the irony.

The film bills itself as a thriller, but scores some of the biggest laughs of 2012 with a script that's littered with more absurdities than the entire Naked Gun franchise - combined.

When Grace begins throwing live grenades around town to find her dad via his echolocation skills, I simply lost it.

Now I must apologize to the folks who were sitting near me during the screening, since I simply could not control my outbursts of laughter.

For those hearty chuckles, I'm dishing out a general Final Cut score of 65 percent.

Watch the attached video for more.