Taken 2 - Theatrical trailer analysis

Seeing as this is a sequel of the first Taken movie, the film would already have an audiene because the first movie did so well already giving it a good selling point as well as the leed role - Liam Neeson who is very well known when it comes to action movies; he was in other movies of this genre such as The Dark Knight Rises and Batman Begins.

We are introduced to the settings of the movie in the opening shot which fades in from black, viewing an exteme long shot of a foreign country - Istanbul, choosing a foreign location for an action movie is one the genres conventions. The clip of the buildings then faced into a medium shot of a man standing infront of his daughter to which she says "dad", letting the audience know the relationship between these two characters which could be an important part of the plot. The medium shot that was used makes the man appear as the more dominant character as he is standing infront of the girl as though he is shadowing her, the clothes he is wearing also makes his come across as a powerful, wealthy man because the suit proves that he has a significant role.

After being shown a group of short clips showing the relationship between the daughter, dad and mum, we are then taken to a different scene of what looks like a funeral taken in a high angle shot to show the surroundings, this thwen leeds onto passed clips from the first movie to re cap what happened and to show why these characters end up wanting revenge on the father and daughter. The group of clips are shown as flash backs which is effective to the audience as it shows the previous events. A couple of seconds before we are shown this, a close up shot is used to show the symbol on one of the foreign mens hands revealing that this group of people are part of a gang hinting key parts of the film to the audience.

We are shown many conventions of the genre such as the use of guns and fast cars, also the violence presented, this would mainly attract a male audience as they are labelled to enjoy the adrenaline rush they get from watching explosions and fast car chases, the young girl would also attract the male audience because she is presented in a way that will make the target audience want to see the film. The girl being in the film and being shown doing dangerous things such as climbing on buildings subverts the stereotypes of the girls role in an action genre movie because they are usually known as the damsel in distress, needing someone to save them.

The fast paced shots and build up of music creates suspense in the audience which makes the movie come across as an exciting action that would appeal to many people. By not using much evidence on what this films plot could be creates enigmas leaving the people watching with questions that they want answered, such as "where is she?", this dialogue can mean many things, as we have already been shown the main female characters in the film and the possible antagonists who are foreign which also conforms to another actions genre stereotype. 

An interesting use on non diegetic sound is used from 1 minutes 44 seconds, as it is the only sound you are able to hear until Liam Neesons character says "If I kill you, your other sons will come and seek revenge", to which he gets a reply of "they will", to when Liam Neesons character makes a courageous responds "then I will kill them too", leaving the trailer on a cliff hanger and again creating newer enigmas for the audience to be unsettled on.