Post by Salzmank on May 20, 2020 3:58:46 GMT
Didn’t mention this before, but over the weekend I rewatched Unknown (2011). I loved it when I saw it in theaters, and it holds up as one of the strongest mystery-thrillers of recent years; not sure why the reviews were so mixed.
It’s a largely unpretentious b-movie (if anything can be said to be a b-movie these days) with an exceptional performance by Bruno Ganz and a few Hitchcockian touches (even if the art museum sequence more recalls De Palma’s Hitchcock imitations than genuine Hitchcock). Weaker than Polanski’s Frantic (1988), from which it borrows a lot, but still tons of fun. I have a somewhat inexplicable fondness for Liam-Neeson-starring b-thrillers, even when they’re bad (The Commuter); I’ve enjoyed them a lot more than many a-movies over the last few years.
Watching it again, I appreciated the cleverness of its plot (the opening sequence is effective misdirection), was again dazzled by January Jones’ beauty (OK, she’s no great actress, but she has oodles of screen presence) — and noticed a few flaws I hadn’t on first viewing.
For one thing, the movie looks so ugly, with a palette of mostly grays against a gray Berlin. Of all the places in the world to shoot a thriller, why Berlin? It’s not the most photogenic city, certainly, and director Jaume Collet-Serra makes it look like a garbage dump. Perhaps Paris would make the Frantic connection too obvious, but why not shoot in, say, Florence? Or at least make Berlin look nicer? Hitchcock, and De Palma, would have done that. The ugliness serves no aesthetic purpose, either: we’re supposed to imagine a storybook, if May-December, romance before the first twist.
For another, the script is so committed to thrills that it doesn’t bother to delve on the existential shock of the central plot twist. Suffice it to say Neeson’s character would need years of counseling after the events of this movie. The flick ends too quickly, too.
All in all, though, this is great fun. Can we please get more movies like this, preferably also starring the always-likable Neeson? And can Hollywood put January Jones in more movies? Please?
It’s a largely unpretentious b-movie (if anything can be said to be a b-movie these days) with an exceptional performance by Bruno Ganz and a few Hitchcockian touches (even if the art museum sequence more recalls De Palma’s Hitchcock imitations than genuine Hitchcock). Weaker than Polanski’s Frantic (1988), from which it borrows a lot, but still tons of fun. I have a somewhat inexplicable fondness for Liam-Neeson-starring b-thrillers, even when they’re bad (The Commuter); I’ve enjoyed them a lot more than many a-movies over the last few years.
Watching it again, I appreciated the cleverness of its plot (the opening sequence is effective misdirection), was again dazzled by January Jones’ beauty (OK, she’s no great actress, but she has oodles of screen presence) — and noticed a few flaws I hadn’t on first viewing.
For one thing, the movie looks so ugly, with a palette of mostly grays against a gray Berlin. Of all the places in the world to shoot a thriller, why Berlin? It’s not the most photogenic city, certainly, and director Jaume Collet-Serra makes it look like a garbage dump. Perhaps Paris would make the Frantic connection too obvious, but why not shoot in, say, Florence? Or at least make Berlin look nicer? Hitchcock, and De Palma, would have done that. The ugliness serves no aesthetic purpose, either: we’re supposed to imagine a storybook, if May-December, romance before the first twist.
For another, the script is so committed to thrills that it doesn’t bother to delve on the existential shock of the central plot twist. Suffice it to say Neeson’s character would need years of counseling after the events of this movie. The flick ends too quickly, too.
All in all, though, this is great fun. Can we please get more movies like this, preferably also starring the always-likable Neeson? And can Hollywood put January Jones in more movies? Please?