Sans identité

I wanted to love this film, as I'm a big fan of Liam Neeson.

This was a pretty good movie. It was overall enjoyable to watch, and it had good twists to the story. It was action packed, and as such Neeson delivers. January Jones is, unfortunately, a terribly cold actress and is the same character as all of her other films. I do like Diane Kruger though, and she was fairly charming in this.

I enjoyed watching it. It's a good weekend, sit-down-and-enjoy thrill movie, as one would expect from its description. It is by no means a movie I'd recommend for its artistic merit, but it definitely delivers in the traditional thrill-seeker movie. The plot is pretty good as well, and well executed.

Über talented ensemble of actors and the trademark style of the director delivers on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, despite a preposterously convoluted story.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra ('The Commuter') surrounds the mature action star Liam Neeson with an ensemble of actors who deliver superb performances.

It all sets up to be a first-rate suspense film, except the story itself is like one of the more fantastical types Rod Serling might have used in his 'Twilight Zone' TV series that presses the boundary of believability.

Unknown delivers on "entertainment", and I recommend seeing the film, but leave your storyline expectations with the cloakroom before viewing.

Collet-Serra uses a similar style of suspense-film story telling seven years later in 2018's 'The Commuter', once again teaming with Neeson in the lead role - if you liked that movie, you will like this one as well, which is a notch or two better overall.

Multiple people have compared this to Neeson's 2008 release of "Taken." Both have a similar concept; Liam goes on a fast-paced journey to retrieve something special that has been taken from him. This time it is not his daughter; it is his mind. Unlike "Taken," "Unknown" is more of a suspense mystery than an action flick. There are some chases and fight scenes, but that is not the main focus. The movie's plot is focus and it is unique for it is unpredictable. We are confused like Neeson's character and there are times we don't know if he will succeed. There are multiple twists and unlike most mystery thrillers, it took me more than half through the film to figure it all out.

In short, "Unknown" is a fairly decent mystery thriller. Good performances. Good story for a mystery. Good music. Good cinematography—I particularly like the whole gray, dreary atmosphere that reflects the film's location's bleak weather. Good twists. Good suspense— the sound mixers must've had a kick in adding emphasis on sound effects to startle the audience. The one thing I will note is that Liam Neeson is really showing his age. This is not necessarily a bad thing; on the contrary, it helps his character out. It gets tiresome that Hollywood always uses the generic 30-something year old actor with smashing abs who is tossed into a terrible situation. It is nice to see an aging actor play an upper middle-aged man who has perhaps lost his mind while running away from people trying to kill him.

A man (Liam Neeson) is in a horrible accident, and when he recovers, no one knows who he is, including his wife, in "Unknown," a 2011 film starring Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aiden Quinn, and Frank Langella.

We've seen this plot, or a derivation thereof, many times: the man who disappears and everyone denies his existence to the person who accompanied him (So Long at the Fair, Dangerous Crossing), or the man who suddenly isn't who he says he is (The Net). The plot of "Unknown" is the latter, and Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) attempts to investigate why someone (Aiden Quinn) is now Dr. Martin Harris and with his wife (January Jones). To do this, Harris must first find the taxi driver who saved his life (Kruger). Meanwhile, he desperately tries to reach a professor (Frank Langella) back at his college who can verify his identity.

This type of film, when done well, as this one was, moves quickly and has lots of actions in order to cover up the plot holes. There usually are some, but if the film is good, one doesn't mind. I have to say I really enjoyed this film, filmed mostly in and around Berlin. Good performances, very exciting, a couple of dandy car chases, and a neat twist. Highly recommended.

Multiple people have compared this to Neeson's 2008 release of "Taken." Both have a similar concept; Liam goes on a fast-paced journey to retrieve something special that has been taken from him. This time it is not his daughter; it is his mind. Unlike "Taken," "Unknown" is more of a suspense mystery than an action flick. There are some chases and fight scenes, but that is not the main focus. The movie's plot is focus and it is unique for it is unpredictable. We are confused like Neeson's character and there are times we don't know if he will succeed. There are multiple twists and unlike most mystery thrillers, it took me more than half through the film to figure it all out.

In short, "Unknown" is a fairly decent mystery thriller. Good performances. Good story for a mystery. Good music. Good cinematography—I particularly like the whole gray, dreary atmosphere that reflects the film's location's bleak weather. Good twists. Good suspense— the sound mixers must've had a kick in adding emphasis on sound effects to startle the audience. The one thing I will note is that Liam Neeson is really showing his age. This is not necessarily a bad thing; on the contrary, it helps his character out. It gets tiresome that Hollywood always uses the generic 30-something year old actor with smashing abs who is tossed into a terrible situation. It is nice to see an aging actor play an upper middle-aged man who has perhaps lost his mind while running away from people trying to kill him.

My rating: ***/****