TAKEN 2 (Rated PG-13)

Liam Neeson is now an action hero, and as such, he’s practically required, as a condition of membership in this elite fraternity of players, to do a repeat performance.

In “Taken,” Neeson proved he could wipe out a lot of Eurotrash bad guys while hardly working up a sweat. “Taken 2” is really, in so many ways, just more of the same.

Arguably, the basic premise is still in play. A kidnapping occurs. Neeson seeks revenge. Plenty of villains get killed in the process.

But, at least, “Taken 2” offers a few twists.

This time around, Neeson’s Bryan Mills, a retired CIA operative who now provides private security services, is the target from the outset.

The film opens with a graveside mass burial ceremony in Albania, where criminal boss Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija, reliable bad guy character actor) mourns the death of his son and others.

Murad’s son was the Albanian thug who had kidnapped Bryan’s daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) in the original film so that she would be forced into the sex slave trade.

Of course, none of this matters to the amoral Murad, who only cares that the brutal death of his son, at the hands of Bryan, should be avenged in a most horrific way.

In any event, Albania is a mere road trip from Istanbul, where Bryan has completed a job protecting a certain Arab sheik and his retinue from unseen threats.

Back on the home front, Kim is dating a new boyfriend, though her dad barely hides his suspicions.

Meanwhile, Bryan’s ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), the mother of Kim, is now separated from her second husband.

Hence, a family reunion, of sorts, takes place in Istanbul, when Bryan mistakenly believes good times loom with a sightseeing tourist adventure in a city that is truly unique.

Indeed, Turkey’s most populous city makes for as much scenic backdrop as did Paris in the original “Taken.” Yet, Istanbul offers opportunity for plenty of exciting roof top action, such as has occurred in a couple of “Bourne” films.

When Murad and his thugs arrive in Istanbul, they learn that they just might get a hat trick for abducting the entire Mills clan.

Instead, Bryan and Lenore are snatched, while Kim stays behind at the hotel to enjoy the pool. Lenore is tied up and left hanging upside-down, while Bryan is chained to a pipe nearby.

The resourceful ex-spy manages to dial Kim on a cell phone while his hands are still bound together, and then proceeds to work with her on plotting their location on a map using a complex process.

At this point, I should mention that hand grenades and an assortment of other weapons that Bryan keeps locked up in a special metal suitcase come in handy.

Eventually, Bryan gets free but not in enough time to save Lenore from being moved to another secret hiding place. Suffice it to say, Murad and his goons never have a chance in this lopsided battle.

Taking over from co-writer Luc Besson, French director Olivier Megaton stirs up the kind of suspense that made the first “Taken” such a big hit.

“Taken 2” makes great use of the exotic Turkish locales, using the narrow streets for plenty of car chase action, though we’ve seen much better chases in the “Bourne” films and even the original “Taken.”

To be sure, the first “Taken” was more imaginative and had better character development (primarily for the more diverse villains) and even more innovative stunts and use of weaponry.

However, “Taken 2” is a capable, solid action picture that delivers the goods that just about fan of the original could expect or desire.

If you walked into “Taken 2” having loved the original, I would find it hard to believe that your feelings won’t come close to being the same this time.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Dean Martin, a member of the Rat Pack, never seemed to take himself too seriously, and as a result, he was always fun to watch.

The versatile actor starred in all kinds of film genres. His best Western was probably “Rio Bravo,” in which he starred with John Wayne.

Now coming to DVD is an old Western in which Dean Martin played a notorious bandit. In “Something Big,” Martin’s Joe Baker has a dream to do “something big.”

The running joke is that everyone believes Joe is up to something, but no one knows what or even how big it actually is.

As part of his adventure, Joe seeks out a Gatling gun from a black marketer, but the price for this weapon is an exchange for an attractive woman.

So Baker kidnaps a female traveler off of the stagecoach, only to find that she’s the wife of the commandant (Brian Keith) of the local Cavalry detachment.

The kidnapped woman is Honor Blackman, who gained fame for her role of Pussy Galore in the James Bond classic “Goldfinger.”

Fans of Dean Martin (and count me in this group) should enjoy this classic Western film about an outlaw’s journey of love, deceit and violence.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.