Movie Review: "Unknown (2011)" ... Grandpa In Trouble!

Unknown (2011) - Liam Nesson, Diane Kruger (5/10)





In real life we are often limited to sitting back and taking it. Even the rich and powerful have to sit in gridlock traffic and wait in queues. We can't go around crashing cars through malls, breaking down locked doors and punching any guy in the face who irritates us. That's what Hollywood action stars are for. They provide us the vicarious thrills that otherwise elude the common man. If we do it, we would likely be sitting in a wheelchair, talking through a computer with the side of our face.

So it is a great disappointment when you go into an action movie ---expecting a take charge kinda guy who subverts the evil designs of the villain and reigns supreme--- to be met with a perpetually haggard, over-the-hill, pitiful, lumbering giant who asks his leading lady to do the heavy lifting for him, "Please! help me!" cries Liam Neeson to Diane Kruger. Every time he struggles to move across the screen, you fear he will either dislocate a joint or break his damn hip.

Liam Neeson is involved in a traffic accident abroad (Berlin) and has selective amnesia. He develops gaps in his memory. So when he tries to reconnect with his wife, she feigns any knowledge of him and presents a duplicate husband, who shares his name. That rightly upsets him and he goes about to establish his identity.

And that's where the movie takes a nose dive.

Instead of taking hold of the reins and manipulating events, this guy is a like a castaway on a raft, in the middle of the ocean. Events happen to him. People throw him around. Even young girls slap this grandpa, and he takes it all, lumbering from one disgrace to another. If there was one word to describe him here, it would be "Wimp".



The lovely Diane Kruger is the real hero(ine) of this movie. She saves his ass, time and again, or else our hero would either be at the bottom of a river, or an OD statistic in a parking lot. Wish they had given her the top billing. After all, she did do all the heavy lifting, literally.

There was another Unknown (2006) starring Greg Kinnear that has far better plot, suspense and twists than this unfortunate offering. This movie will just irritate Liam Neeson fans, who have watched his earlier stuff like Taken (2008) and The A-Team (2010), where despite his advanced years (60), he doesn't look it. Here, he looks like a befuddled, senile grandpa, trying to put moves on a girl who's half his age and... twice as fast.

Maybe they should re-release it with the title, "Catch Me If You Can".

Movie Review: "The Mechanic (2011)"... Poetic Mayhem

The Mechanic (2011) - Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland (8/10)

This movie is a remake of the 1972 classic starring Charles Bronson. While the main theme remains the same, the plot and nature of operations has been updated to reflect the human condition and technology of our times.





Jason Statham is a hired assassin, a mechanic who fixes problems and makes them go away (generally bad people who 'deserve' it). Don't mistake him for a mindless trigger man. When he gets an "assignment", he first takes time out to study it. He is part scientist, part magician. A master strategist and a cold operator. And in the end as it turns out, very much human, much to the detriment of his boss.

He kills people for money, which is a grave sin. And like all sinners he has found a way to somewhat rationalize that aspect of his life. His code of ethics however, are not immune to personal pride and guilt, which make him vulnerable and put him in jeopardy.

I like this movie because it's a in-your-face, no-nonsense action flick. It does not feel obligated to make frequent detours into "touchy-feely" and "get-in-touch-with-your-emotions" bit to appease the PC liberal police, who I suspect would love to see Superman in a tutu, Batman doing Yoga (Oh shit! that's already been done, damnit) and Wolverine sprawled out on a therapist's couch, working out his "daddy issues".

One can make a case that gratuitous violence, as depicted in this movie, desensitizes the audience against real-world violence. Yes, it does. But there is a redeeming quality to this movie. Simon West (who has directed Con Air, Lara Croft and The General's Daughter) has directed this movie like it was a ballet performance. It is violent, but beautiful. The rich colors, controlled movements, perfect timing, synchronized feats of murderous acrobatics and human beings in fine mental and physical form is almost poetic. Far from being sense-less, it rings out all the six senses.

And speaking of senses, what would be violence without sex appeal ?. Coming to the rescue are Mini Anden, a leggy Swede supermodel and Christa Campbell, for the junior partner-in-crime. Their roles may be small, but their parts are substantive. However, there is hardly any character to develop here.



There is a brief topless scene and backside nudity. Nothing major. This was exactly what I came looking for, got it, and enjoyed it. This movie does not make any excuses for what it is. I am not about to, either.