Maggie Grace to Return for ‘Taken 2’

Maggie Grace to Return for ‘Taken 2’

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

In “Taken,” “Lost” alum Maggie Grace had the rather thankless Miss MacGuffin role, playing the victim who gives Liam Neeson an excuse to run around Paris being a take-no-prisoners badass. Not an ideal role for anyone, but to be fair, she played it in style and made the audience feel real sympathy for her.

Either way, according to Deadline, Grace will be returning for the sequel. Although scheduling conflicts nearly kept Neeson out of the picture, it looks as though all parties have been able to come to a compromise, and he will be back as well.

“Taken” may not have been as good as the “Bourne” films it was clearly imitating, but it was still a worthwhile thriller with engaging action and scum-of-the-earth villains who let us forget about moral ambiguity for once. Sometimes it’s just nice to see the good guy kick the bad guy’s ass without wondering about the subtle distinctions between “good” and “bad,” right?

As long as “Taken 2” offers a similar experience, we’re fine with the idea of a sequel. The first film certainly didn’t demand an additional installment, but it’s not exactly a flawless masterpiece that should remain untainted by an inferior successor. The studio is making this movie for the money, and we’ll see it to be entertained. So long as they deliver on their end of the bargain, we can’t really complain about this.

We would, however, like to see Liam Neeson move on to some dramatic roles again, just as we would like to see Grace’s career prosper. She’s actually a fairly skilled performer. Her beauty may have convinced some of us that she’s just a good-looking girl with no talent, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, and we hope that “Taken 2” gives her more to do this time around.