Unknown

Unknown follows suit like a lot of movies as of late in that it is adapted from a book. Unknown follows Doctor Martin Harris who after being in a car accident, awakens to find his identity has been stolen and his wife does not recognize him but instead states that the impostor is her husband. This immediately puts the audience on a ride to finding out what happened and how Dr. Harris can get his life back. Unknown ends up being a great action ride from start to finish that really puts the pedal to the metal from the get go.

Liam Neeson continues his recent streak of strong performances and shows that he is a bona fide force to be reckoned with as an action star. Neeson really commands the screen with great power and presence that he becomes ageless in the eyes of the audience. The ease that Neeson is able to not only able to portray true emotions from confusion to determination, but that he also does all the action sequences with such a commanding presence that the audience does not see the age of Neeson, but just sees the character on the screen he is portraying and the desire the audience has for him to succeed. Along with Neeson, Diane Kruger gives a stellar performance as she is pulled into this wild adventure because she simply rescued him from the car accident. Kruger is most notably known for her role in the National Treasure films, and like in her previous films she is not overpowered on screen by her big name co-stars. She plays her role to perfection as the audience wants to believe that she will help Neeson out yet we feel the great inner conflict as she tries to decide whether to just run away from this or if she truly wishes to help Neeson.

The other supporting cast members work superb and really are the great glue of the movie that help strengthen the story and allow Neeson and Kruger to have such a strong chemistry. Notably, Bruno Ganz, who plays Jurgen, a former East German Secret Police Officer plays his role with a little bit of old man humor. He also ends up playing a great role as he helps to keep the movie running at a couple of points as his character helps to tie in and reveal some very key plot points. January Jones in really one of her first major roles, at least that I am aware plays Mrs. Harris with real poise and at the same time a great mysteriousness. This mysteriousness she plays is the most intriguing to me as she has the audience trying to figure out if she is part of the identity theft or is her life being threatened in some way to go a long with everything that is happening.

The camera work in Unknown for all the different action sequences is exactly what the audience wants by immersing them right into the action. This immersion really shines through during the main car chase sequence. Moving the shots alternately from inside the vehicle to outside to give a street view of the chase, helps the audience see what is happening and not move the camera so fast from different angles that it is hard to tell what each car is doing. The street view gives the audience precisely what they want in that they can see what is happening and yet they still feel immersed in the movie and that they are not just merely watching it. The film makers do not make the same mistake that happens so often in action fight sequences, Unknown they do not get so entangled with multiple camera angles instead they keep the cameras separated from the fight that the audience is actually able to tell what is happening in the fight and not trying to guess from the shaky camera action shot who pulled off what move within the fight.

The story/plot for Unknown did exactly what the story needs to do in a movie. The story does everything it needed to not only keep me on the edge of my seat but had me trying to figure out what was coming next. With the screenplay being adapted from a book, I am very curious and interested in reading the book and seeing how it compared to the movie. While I won't give anything away, Unknown does give a couple of good twists and turns that were very fresh and not ones that I recall being in action movies of the past.

Unknown is a great edge of your seat action movie that leaves the audience feeling like they just got their money's worth. I am giving Unknown three and three-fourths buckets of popcorn out of five. Neeson is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors as he gives great performances anytime he is on the screen. Unknown is a film that I would suggest one to see in the theaters. It was definitely worth the price of the ticket and it is a movie that will be added to my movie collection someday.

-The Movie Man