Unknown, But Familiar

After being pleasantly surprised by the movie Taken, I was game to take a chance on this week's new Liam Neeson film, Unknown. It again casts the star as an action hero (though it seems a less "unlikely" choice now), a man whose identity is stolen from him while he's overseas in Germany.

I'll say first off that I did get what I was looking for out of this movie. Liam Neeson was once again a charismatic protagonist, and a believable butt-kicker. The film had several good action sequences, and a very intriguing premise.

There were some flaws with the movie too, however, and unfortunately, I don't think I can say too much more than "it seemed derivative" without being forced to give away big chunks of the plot. So if you don't want to be spoiled, please skip the next paragraph and head on to my conclusion.

Only us still here? Okay then. Essentially, this movie is The Bourne Identity. It does work on a lot of levels, and may still be worth seeing, but there are a lot of similarities -- the European setting, the intriguing and strong woman who befriends the hero along the way, and (I did warn you I was spoiling things here, people) the true nature of that hero. I was willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt, as it's all based on a French novel, while my understanding is that The Bourne Identity film actually bears little similarity to the novel on which it's based. But nope, a little research reveals the French novel was published in 2003, while The Bourne Identity film was released one year earlier in 2002. Copied from the beginning, it seems?

Yet it's not like the film wasn't exciting, wasn't adventurous, wasn't everything you ask such a movie to deliver. So I think I'm going to rate it a B-. (That puts it just a touch below Taken, for those keeping track. But seriously, you're keeping track?) If you're an action junkie, it's probably one to catch in the theater. The rest of you might opt to wait for Netflix.