Liam Neesson is back as the butt-kicking ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in the sequel...... oh hang on sorry, got that wrong. Liam Neeson hasn't done the Taken sequel just yet but he may as well have done.
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson; The A-Team, Clash of The Titans) is a biochemist attending a convention in Berlin with beautiful blonde wife (January Jones; Mad Men, the upcoming X-men First Class). On missing a piece of luggage he takes a taxi back to the airport and his life changes for ever. He's stepped into the taxi of the best or probably worse taxi driver in the whole of Germany as they soon take a dip into the Spree (Berlin's river). With great strength the diminutive taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger; Inglorious Basterds, National Treasure: Book of Secrets) rescues Dr. Harris and quickly flees the scene as paramedics save his life.
When Dr. Harris wakes up his memory is fuzzy, not just about the incident but of his life in general. It just so happens that the biochemist convention is being talked about on the news (as they so often are) and Dr. Harris remembers where he needs to be, however when he gets there he realises just how much his life has changed. His beautiful wife is married to Dr. Martin Harris but not the doctor we know (Neeson).
Unknown could very well be mistaken for Taken (rhyme not intended), it's a story of a man on a mission, a driven man with a plan (rhyme slightly more intended). However Unknown keeps its audience guessing for a lot longer than Taken and therefore makes for a more interesting ride. Don't get me wrong this is not a more intellectual movie than Taken by any means, it's a high octane action thriller that may be in the same thread as Taken but keeps the audience interested for a lot longer (Neeson can only kill so many people without people getting bored).
Liam Neeson is good as always, he generally looks out of place for the role as would usually be expected as an audience may expect a much younger leading man but as last year's action thrillers The Tourist and Knight and Day shows, younger (even if not by that much) isn't necessarily better. Neeson is very good at looking determined and menacing (the man is 6'4, just that would intimidate most people alone) but he can go from family man to hard bitten, driven professional at the drop of a hat.
Diane Kruger is nice and a little quirky as Gina, an illegal immigrant in Berlin (despite Kruger being a native German herself) and plays off well against Neeson as a no nonsense taxi driver looking out for her family back home.
There's a nice cameo from Frank Langella (Wall Street 2, Frost/Nixon), but when I say nice I mean a nice sight to see another good actor play off against Neeson, albeit briefly, Langella isn't 'nice' in Unknown. From two older actors playing these kinds of roles it's good that they can still bring in a broad audience, even if Liam Neeson is the main attraction. After all the movie is pretty much a one man show.
In my opinion the only downfall of the movie is January Jones, she only has a small role (although it kind of plays two parts) and she doesn't really convey enough character in either role which for me personally doesn't bode well for which I think will be a major role in X-Men First Class.
However despite the occasionally misjudged performance, Unknown is a fun couple of hours. Not exactly as much of a chance to turn off your brain as Taken was but you can still enjoy the ride without it being too taxing, although don't expect the pay off to be anything you haven't seen before.
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