I am writing this review half asleep, but that shouldn't matter, and in fact it may be fitting for this film, because Liam Neeson looked like he was generally half asleep while making it.
I'm not saying that Unknown is a BAD movie, only that it could have been much much better.
The action starts with Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) arriving in Berlin for a biological conference of some kind. A luggage mishap sends Martin back towards the airport when a car crash derails his vacation plans and sends his reality spinning.
It seems that a coma has dropped Martin Harris off the face of the Earth. He finds his wife, who doesn't recognize him and is married to a man who has assumed his identity. Martin must unravel the mystery of who he is, or was; is his situation the result of a brain injury, or is he caught up in a sinister plot?
I checked the film out with my friends Jeff, Casey, and Greyson. While we were somewhat divided on how we felt about the film overall, we all agreed on what was wrong with it, so I'll start there. (I think a simple Pros/Cons list should be easy enough at this hour...)
Cons:
1. It is Stupid
Specifically, the ending is stupid. Without giving too much away, there is at one point a giant digital clock attached to... something...(use your imagination) which is completely and ridiculously unnecessary.
Besides that, the viewer is required to take a few too many leaps of faith for my liking.
Also I'd like to point out that, while the marketing team for Unknown would like you to believe it is an action packed thriller, there are only very few adrenaline-soaked moments. Mostly, Martin goes about uncovering the mystery the peaceful (read: boring) way. You know, running around Berlin, telling his crazy story to anyone who will listen.
2. January Jones
Ouch. She was really bad in this. Jeff pointed out a moment in the film, when Martin has tracked her down, that the audience (the one's who didn't watch the trailer anyway) learns that she no longer recognizes him. She did that little head tilt to the side, you know like a dog? Here I'll just show you:
I still to this day have not seen Jones project any emotion in a role other than icy ruthlessness. She's beautiful and all, but seriously, it might be time to hang it up. She hasn't improved since the 2003 Adam Sandler flick Anger Management, which says a lot.
She wasn't alone in this film though... most of the acting was pretty subpar, even from Liam and Inglourious Basterd's Diane Kruger.
3. The Corny Subplot
If you've seen the movie, you get it.
Ok, it's time for...
Pros:
1. High Production Value
The writers and actors may have phoned it in, but the production crew tried their darndest to make up for it. For the most part the movie looks and sounds great. At this point in film making history, anything not shot exclusively in front of a green-screen is good in my book. This movie gets props for using real locations in Berlin, and having actual sets with pretty good set design.
Take a decent, extended action sequence and some fairly well done "trippy" parts, and the filmmakers could have had a good movie on their hands. Oh well.
2. Bruno Ganz
Ganz, who played in one of my favorite movies, Wings of Desire, is the lone acting standout. Jurgen, an ex-Stasi private detective, is an early ally for Harris, and helps him piece the mystery together. This sickly old man provided pretty much the only tension I felt in the film, while waiting for the tottering, coughing old man to suddenly keel over in every shot.
3. SPOILER ALERT!!
January Jones got blown up.
The film is entertaining enough if you go into it with low enough expectations. I did and enjoyed the few moments of quality enough to not give it a failing grade. Unknown does take itself too seriously however, which annoyed me. I would have liked the film more if it accepted its own cheesiness. As it stands, Unknown is a poor man's Bourne.
Attendance: 3/5
Crazy Fan Boy Factor: 0/5
Crowd Response: 1/5
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Production Value: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Action: 1/5
Liam Neeson < 90's Harrison Ford
Overall: 5/10
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