Liam Neeson experienced some sort of career resurrection due to his participation in runaway hit TAKEN in 2008. The film was not all that good, really but it had THAT SCENE where Neeson's character Bryan Mills threatens his daughter's kidnappers over the phone. Something about Neeson's flawed physique and understated game is a throwback to the Clint Eastwood days where action heroes weren't airbrushed and full of anabolic steroids. The best movie of his career renewal so far is THE GREY, by a long shot, but its success is 50% due to the awesomeness of action movie savant director Joe Carnahan. In the midst of all that is UNKNOWN, a movie that got a bit lost in all the hype of the newly formed Liam Neeson Appeciation Society. While it's a movie designed to milk the most possible out of its lead actor and that Neeson gives his trademark strong performance, he's swimming against the tide here, alone. UNKNOWN doesn't have much going on for itself, except Liam Neeson.
Here's a funny thing. UNKNOWN is supposed to be an adaptation from novel HORS DE MOI, by Belgian novelist Didier Van Cauwelaert. I didn't read this particular novel of Van Cauwelaert (althought I've read the author before), yet I doubt that it's a faithful adaptation. It's way too like movies you've already seen. When Josie busts your plot before the thirty minutes mark, it means you're not very original. Think of UNKNOWN as part Bourne movie, with the edgy light filters, the intricate conspiracy plot and the martial arts, and part TAKEN, where Liam Neeson fights a bunch of dude he doesn't seem to know, for a cause that's righteous to him while ushering gradually more badass one liners. To some extent, that's why most people (self-included) pay the entrance fee to a Liam Neeson flick. To see a guy that could be your dad, be a complete badass on screen.
Let's talk about that idea of being Liam-Centric. It makes UNKNOWN rather fascinating for its earnest, unabashed approach. It's a Liamsploitation (that's right, I'm fathering the term) movie. It's crazy, because the movie has a great cast such as Diane Kruger, Frank Langella and Bruno Ganz, yet when they're on screen it's a conspiracy movie with identity issues (yet, they play very well!). When Liam Neeson is, it's a ruthless pursuit movie where a poor scientist is hounded by a faceless, all-powerful enemy. Without spoiling anything, the ending made me laugh out loud and somewhat reconciled me with the ongoing sillyness of UNKNOWN. By the time the credits rolled, it made its statement and qualified itself as pulp fiction. If you're going over the top, it's a good thing to include winks and details, letting know you're not taking yourself that seriously.
UNKNOWN was both fun and a little soul-killing at the same time. Knowing how Hollywood works, it's not surprising to see that genre of actor-centric cash in. While I'll give to UNKNOWN that it's good natured, it's a cash-in nonetheless. If Matt Damon, Clive Owen or Jason Statham would've starred as Dr. Martin Harris, this wouldn't have had any legs at all. The support crew is stellar, given the lifeless characters they were given, Neeson is his usual transcendent self, yet there is nothing outside of him that could convince you to watch this movie. I'd recommend it to the Liam Neeson completists like me or to the patient viewers that dig pulp fiction. It's a difficult movie to rank, yet I'll be generous for its quirky sense of humor and because it fucking stars Liam Neeson.
THREE STARS