Two sequels today -
Taken 2 (2012) - Bear in mind this was the uncut version. I pretty much got what I was expecting with this one, meh. A few bog-standard action scenes and Liam Neeson's palpable screen presence do not particularly save this somewhat pedestrian continuation. The film even with it's now unedited 15 rating lacks any of the punch from the first instalment (a solid vigilante film, but no modern classic by any means) and any kind of memorable threat. Not the worst 90 minutes worth of modern action cinema I've seen but there has been a lot better these past few years. If you can't find it for a few quid, I say skip.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - My second viewing after several years of arguably the most loathed sequel in all horror, at least from my experience. I have a lot of time for John Boorman's work and as such I have found much of his work besides
Deliverance to be both underrated and misunderstood. This being one of them. While
The Heretic abandons traditional horror for it's primary genre in place of a metaphysical thriller with horror elements, the narrative's crux of the battle between science and spirituality is a fascinating concept that is explored in a well mannered fashion here from my perspective. Atypical of Boorman, his soft focus cinematography and mise en scene is weird but undeniably memorable as is Morricone's score. I appreciate this maligned sequel much more on a second viewing, not to mention it features 'Welsh Jesus' Richard Burton which for me is the cherry on top this offbeat cake.
Happy viewing.
