I’ll admit I avoided seeing Unknown when it hit theaters. It looked like Taken: Take 2 (“This time they’re coming after his identity” says an imaginary cheesy voiceover) and I wanted no part of a redux of the same action. But (and this a pretty big but) I now know that I was all kinds of wrong and that I clearly need to have more faith in Liam Neeson’s knack for badassery.
Now Unknown isn’t exactly a revelation. You won’t force your future sons to watch it before they can truly call themselves men. It’s not a mind-blowing awe-garnering action thriller — it’s just a solid movie with a decent mystery a kickass lead and some pretty fantastic chase scenes. But really isn’t that exactly what you need from a movie like this? (Let me answer that for you: Yes that’s all you need.) So now that the film is on Blu-ray those of you who missed out the first time can see the film in brilliant 1080p high definition and get at least a bit of that theater magic (assuming you aren’t watching it on some dinky 13-inch television). The film is set in Berlin which is food for any lens and the city provides that textbook European glam and mystery to the flick.
Of course the cast is pretty solid as well. Though January Jones can’t seem to play anyone other than Betty Draper it works in this context and everyone else is pretty perfectly cast as well. Diane Kruger keeps up with Neeson throughout the action — her accent isn’t perfect but it can sneak by. Of course the entire thing rests on the star; without Neeson this would be a strange little mystery in Berlin but his insurmountable dauntless demeanor gives the flick some real teeth.
The special features however are lacking any real bite. We get two — yep one plus one — features and that’s it. One is just about how awesome Liam Neeson is; we listen to the cast and crew gush over his abilities for 10 minutes while thinking “Yeah we know. That’s why we saw the movie.” The other is simply a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the movie and the rest of the cast. They’re really only worth it if you just can’t get enough Neeson or you like seeing Frank Langella sit on a comfy couch and wax poetic about action/mysteries.
Essentially the real reason to pick up your own copy is if you’re a fan of Liam Neeson European car chases January Jones in low-cut backless dresses mysteries and destruction in high definition. It’s a good time.
Unknown is on DVD Blu-ray and Digital Copy as of June 21.
