I must admit i approached this film with geat anticipation after the revelation of Liam Neeson’s ass-kicking ability displayed in the excellent Taken. And although big Liam holds top billing in both that is where the similarities end. That doesn’t mean this is a bad film because its not, it has however been done before. Man and wife check into a Berlin hotel for a science summit, man realises he has left a briefcase at the airport and jumps in a taxi to retrieve it. Taxi crashes, man wakes in hospital with partial amnesia, returns to the hotel to find wife with another man claiming to be her husband. So begins the game of cat & mouse. The story is good, performances are too and the action is done very well once it starts but the story is reminiscent of films like Timebomb with Michael Biehn & more recently The Long Kiss Goodnight. One to try before you buy.
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Unknown was always going to draw comparisons with Taken, and in my opinion, unfairly; because although they share the same lead actor, the similarities end there.
In fact, the two films couldn’t be more different.
Taken was an OK film in my opinion. I’d give it three stars. I found it pretty flat to be honest. The story line was boring and the action, although there was plenty of it, couldn’t have been more run of the mill.
Taken is the exact polar opposite of Unknown.
Where Taken’s story line was boring and simplistic, Unknown’s was riveting. It was slow to build where as taken was in your face; and ‘slowly’ draws you in and keeps you guessing. I found myself very engaged in it.
And whereas Taken’s action was non stop but mediocre, I found Unknown’s to be sparse (at first) and very exciting when things boiled over.
I’m surprised by some of the harsh reviews for this film – but then reading some of them, I see that people either didn’t watch the film to the end or are fans of Taken. Well, I’m sorry, but you can’t comment on a plot until you know the twist and see the big picture, and if all you want is action, action, action and can’t enjoy anything else you’re a bit of a moron.
Unknown is an excellent espionage thriller, and I thought it worked very well. You might guess one of the twists by about a third of the way through, but you’ll never see the whole ‘big picture’ right until the end. And isn’t that just how films are meant to be…
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This action/thriller/mystery is a little far fetched to say the least but great fun non the less. Similar to {Taken 2008 also starring Neeson which is excellent} in many ways with the theme that anything can happen to a unassuming American “with a bad accent” in Europe” The action isn’t amazing but decent enough with the main credit being drawn from the twist towards the end I won’t give to much away but i found it more original than most movies I seen recently. I will say the one major unfeasible point is that after a bump on the head and short team memory loss Neeson’s character had acquired a set of morals and desire to destroy his former friends colleagues. I finish by recommending this flick to those who liked taken or an action film with some thought put into the storyline however unlikely it maybe i was entertained throughout. For a better action film set in Europe go watch Bourne for a better mystery thriller with misplaced character go watch shutter Island. If you like both of those titles I think you should find this movie more than watchable.
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Good but no Taken *may contain spoliers*,
I must admit i approached this film with geat anticipation after the revelation of Liam Neeson’s ass-kicking ability displayed in the excellent Taken.
And although big Liam holds top billing in both that is where the similarities end. That doesn’t mean this is a bad film because its not, it has however been done before.
Man and wife check into a Berlin hotel for a science summit, man realises he has left a briefcase at the airport and jumps in a taxi to retrieve it. Taxi crashes, man wakes in hospital with partial amnesia, returns to the hotel to find wife with another man claiming to be her husband. So begins the game of cat & mouse.
The story is good, performances are too and the action is done very well once it starts but the story is reminiscent of films like Timebomb with Michael Biehn & more recently The Long Kiss Goodnight.
One to try before you buy.
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|The polar opposite of Taken,
Unknown was always going to draw comparisons with Taken, and in my opinion, unfairly; because although they share the same lead actor, the similarities end there.
In fact, the two films couldn’t be more different.
Taken was an OK film in my opinion. I’d give it three stars. I found it pretty flat to be honest. The story line was boring and the action, although there was plenty of it, couldn’t have been more run of the mill.
Taken is the exact polar opposite of Unknown.
Where Taken’s story line was boring and simplistic, Unknown’s was riveting. It was slow to build where as taken was in your face; and ‘slowly’ draws you in and keeps you guessing. I found myself very engaged in it.
And whereas Taken’s action was non stop but mediocre, I found Unknown’s to be sparse (at first) and very exciting when things boiled over.
I’m surprised by some of the harsh reviews for this film – but then reading some of them, I see that people either didn’t watch the film to the end or are fans of Taken. Well, I’m sorry, but you can’t comment on a plot until you know the twist and see the big picture, and if all you want is action, action, action and can’t enjoy anything else you’re a bit of a moron.
Unknown is an excellent espionage thriller, and I thought it worked very well. You might guess one of the twists by about a third of the way through, but you’ll never see the whole ‘big picture’ right until the end. And isn’t that just how films are meant to be…
Was this review helpful to you?
|Unknown,
This action/thriller/mystery is a little far fetched to say the least but great fun non the less. Similar to {Taken 2008 also starring Neeson which is excellent} in many ways with the theme that anything can happen to a unassuming American “with a bad accent” in Europe” The action isn’t amazing but decent enough with the main credit being drawn from the twist towards the end I won’t give to much away but i found it more original than most movies I seen recently. I will say the one major unfeasible point is that after a bump on the head and short team memory loss Neeson’s character had acquired a set of morals and desire to destroy his former friends colleagues. I finish by recommending this flick to those who liked taken or an action film with some thought put into the storyline however unlikely it maybe i was entertained throughout.
For a better action film set in Europe go watch Bourne for a better mystery thriller with misplaced character go watch shutter Island. If you like both of those titles I think you should find this movie more than watchable.
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|