***  | PG-13 |113 Minutes

Since a lot of people will see ads or promos for the new movie “Unknown”; they are going to instantly think of the movie “Taken”. Well who could blame them? Both films star Liam Neeson as a man in a European country chasing people on both foot and car to uncover the truth about a mystery.  So yes, you can see some of the connections about the two movies but unlike “Taken “, where the story covers  familiar territory in the revenge thriller genre. Director Jaume Collet-Serra actually has an interesting premise, and its interest carries on through most of the film.

As the film opens we are introduced to Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) on a plane heading toward Berlin for a conference. They get off the plane, unload their luggage into the taxi, and head to the hotel. But it’s only at the hotel where Dr. Harris realizes that they have forgotten one piece of luggage and decide to go back to the airport and retrieve it. It’s on the ride back however. where something goes terribly wrong. The taxi is behind a truck carrying large equipment, some of it falls off into the path of their taxi, but they quickly dodge it by serving out of the way. In doing so, the taxi falls into a river and begins to sink; the driver Gina (Diane Kruger) escapes and saves the life of Dr. Harris. He wakes up in a hospital only to learn that he has been in a coma for four days. Desperate to find his wife, he goes back to the hotel and meets her, but she doesn’t recognize him, states she has never seen him in her life, and shows her a man (Aidan Quinn) who says he is the real Dr. Martin Harris. Confused and destined to prove the truth, Dr, Harris tries to gain back most of his memory, and enlists the help of Gina (Kruger) to discover the whole conspiracy behind it.

Since Liam Neeson is now considered the new action star ever since “Taken”, he was the perfect choice to play this character and his performance is strong. Like I said before, people are going to keep comparing it to his character in “Taken” but his character closely resembles the characteristics of Jason Bourne from the “Bourne Identity” series more than his character in “Taken” .  “Unknown” is an interesting story that will keep the audience in tuned, and for a good hour you will be trying to guess the reasons why no one knows who Dr. Harris is. If you are a person who has seen many action/thrillers, (myself-included), then you will instantly think of the usual tricks that the film makers will try to use, but the general public will keep guessing. This film reminded me of something that Alfred Hitchcock would of directed, it’s just that Hitchcock would have of probably made a better third act, then from what Director Jaume Collet-Serra exhibited.  Collets-Serra’s third act is just ordinary action and a letdown after some very exciting action scenes in the second act.

Speaking of the action, the car chase scenes are fast-paced, filmed very well, and are exciting to watch with Liam Neeson being chased by his enemies. Even though at times this film can be implausible, you will actually care what happens, unlike other films, where the action would just overpower an uninteresting story. But “Unknown” has both an intriguing story and exciting action, which I look for in an action/thriller. It’s an above-average one, not a great one, but a passable and fun action/thriller that’s worth-watching, and another good entry for the comeback of Liam Neeson, who was off the Hollywood radar for awhile, since the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson.