Unknown - Movie Review

'Unknown' came around largely because of the huge success of 2009 thriller 'Taken;' here Liam Neeson's latest trip to Europe follows a very similar framework to it's older brother. Directed by a different European director in a slightly different European city (Berlin, not Paris) both movies feature a gritty character played by Neeson on the hunt for something of great value to him on a personal level. Whilst 'Taken' was the hunt for his daughter, here Neeson has to find 'himself' as his identity appears to have been taken from him following a suspicious crash inside a taxi.

The opening half an hour of the movie is pitch perfect, laying together the bricks which build the grand mystery of the storyline; an unusual moment where Neeson's Martin Harris leaves his wife at the hotel after realising he forgot his bag at the airport a perfect example of eerie scene-setting. No signal on his phone and having not told her where he was going the audience immediately is forced to try to pick apart the situation and solve something but you're not quite sure what as of yet. Inside the taxi driven by Diane Kruger's Gina, Harris finds his life under threat as an accident sends the car veering through a bridge into the river below. Gina saves our hero and leaves him unconscious as the paramedics arrive. Awakening in a hospital with damaged memory after a concussion, Harris finds his life has disappeared; his wife no longer recognises him and someone else is living in his hotel under his very name.

It's terrifically set-up, you find yourself wondering back to the beginning and whether the married couple actually showed any signs that they were married. Was it all a clever blanket the film-makers have pulled over our eyes and deceived us that way. All of the fun in 'Unknown' comes when you are literally trying to solve that which is unknown to you; the mystery behind its veil.

As the movie weaves its way through an action heavy and decent second act it suddenly and quite alarmingly comes off its rails. It's right around the time Frank Langella's Rodney Cole enters; an old friend of Martin's who has arrived in the city to help. It's at this point the movie just loses it; A stunningly contrived twist unveils itself in the most disappointing of ways. It's almost as if the director and script-writer forgot it was a twist to begin with, it feels like every other dialogue heavy scene that has nothing of true note.
Admittedly you would be throwing caution to the wind trying to accept the shift in the plot but its lame execution only serves to highlight its weaknesses. In truth, everything about Langella's Cole is a mess. Stunningly boring, lacking in emotion or intrigue he acts as a very sour link between the first half and the final climax and even though he's gone before we reach the crescendo there's still a bad taste in the mouth.

However, once you learn to accept what the reveal is and what it means, however poorly executed and thought out it may have been, you can't help but find yourself back into the story for an explosive final few moments that entertain rather than satisfy. Unfortunately it's unclear whether we're supposed to be routing for Neeson's Harris any more; his character becomes so undefined that I didn't really get what his motives or intentions were and it lessened the impact.

Outside of Neeson & Langella, Diane Kruger delivers a very accomplished performance, finding the right levels of sympathy and spirit to make Gina someone you back from start to end. Kruger's talents as an actress stand out perhaps more due to the shambles that January Jones adds to the movie. More wooden than an oak tree and more boring than a mathematics revision book, her Liz Harris is the perfect example of mis-casting; it's also not helped by the fact that Liz is wafer thin on character development even before Jones even stepped into her shoes. Aidan Quinn and Bruno Ganz do decent jobs in the short amount of screen time they have and certainly don't damage anything.

Overall therefore, it's the classic example of "movie-gone-bad" after such a promising beginning. They say that the ending is the most important part of the story and 'Unknown' is a textbook example of why it's the case. It's a nine out of ten worthy first half followed by a two out of ten worthy second half. There are no shades of grey in 'Unknown;' it's either good or it's bad.

Where 'Taken' got everything right in finding Neeson's daughter, 'Unknown' gets wrong in finding what secret was unknown to Harris... In comparison 'Unknown' is the lesser movie on every level.

In some regards then I have to wonder if a more literal screenplay of the title would have been stronger. I'm sure had the mystery of the ending been left "unknown" I wouldn't have been this disappointed.

5.5/10

Adam


Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter: @AdDHarris
Facebook: Adam D.Harris

Be a Fan