Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Liz arrive in Berlin for a biotechnology summit. Upon arriving at the Hotel Adlon, Martin realizes his briefcase was left at the airport. He takes a taxi back, but on the cab crashes off a bridge into a river.
Martin is knocked unconscious upon impact, but the taxi driver Gina saves him from drowning before fleeing from the scene. We later find out she is an illegal immigrant from Bosnia and she wants to avoid being caught and deported.
Four days later Martin comes out of his coma at a hospital. At first, he remembers nothing. Slowly he realizes who he is. When he goes back to the hotel, however, he is in for a terrible surprise. His wife acts like she does not know him. Worse, another man pretends to be her husband, Dr. Martin Harris, and he is there for the conference. Martin has no identification and no proof of who he really is, and due to his sketchy memory, he does not make a convincing case to the authorities.
Unknown is a mystery thriller that reminded me of another Neeson movie, Taken. Here again are European thugs that are after a seemingly innocent American visitor, who is completely alone. There are car chase scenes, hospital chase scenes and hotel chase scenes enough for several movies. The mixture between intrigue and mystery, murderous thriller and memory puzzle is reminiscent of the Jason Bourne movies, just with a different hero/victim.
Nevertheless, the movie drew me in and had me fixed at attention all the way through. The plot was somewhat unbelievable and difficult to follow, but the acting overall was excellent and that made up for it.
Unknown is definitely a thriller that makes for good entertainment. Liam Neeson as we expect him.
Rating: ** 1/2
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