Unknown
User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 211 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 147 out of 211
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 211
  3. Negative: 26 out of 211

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  1. cameronmorewood
    Nov 7, 2012
    3
    America seems pretty hellbent on watching Liam Neeson kill foreigners. This thriller doesn't have any thrills, that's for sure. What it does have is an incoherent plot worsened by sloppy execution.
  2. Hyperbole
    Jan 17, 2012
    1
    God awful drag of a movie. Slow, static, one dimensional characters you don't care about. 2 hours I'll never get back. I read a critic called this film stylish too. What? Stylish like a European Hooker?
  3. jollies
    Jul 31, 2011
    3
    I created a user name just to speak publicly about a movie that, I feel, is a cheap and mindless pile of garbage. The "Unknown" viewing experience goes like this: Liam Neeson flails around Berlin for about 1.5 hours telling everyone within five feet that he is who he says he his, then there is 0.5 hours worth of mildly discernible plot, then the movie ends. While those things happen, we hear Neeson deliver lines like "I'M DOCTOR MARTIN HARRIS" and "THIS MAN IS NOT DOCTOR MARTIN HARRIS" and "I remember how to kill you, **** We watch Frank Langella play Frank Langella. We watch January Jones use her brain to create sound with her throat and mouth, then explode (the highlight of the film, far and away, is watching January Jones explode). It's a crappy movie! Rating: Not Very Good!… Expand
  4. WillWong
    May 25, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Who writes screenplays like this? Excited 12-year olds? It tried to be the Bourne Identity but ended up being a mix of every cliché from every 'tough guy against the world' movie ever made. The fight sequences were dull and involved the camera moving more than the fighters. The car chases were dull and unbelievable - you can't keep driving down crowded pavements and never hit anyone. Well, unless they are trained stunt people who keep flamboyantly diving out of the way!

    At one point the hero is drugged and stumbling down a hospital corridor (this doesn't seem to bother any hospital staff) - but still manages to outrun the bad guy who was just a few metres behind him. Ludicrous!

    Towards the end the hero is kidnapped. Heroine steals a taxi to give chase (with yet more driving across pavement while stunt people flamboyantly jump out of the way). She somehow spots the hero being beaten up on the top storey of a distant car park as she drives down a road. What?! Did she hear them from half a km away while in a car with windows wound up? Does she have super vision? Ridiculous!

    It gets worse. She drives up the multi-storey car park via one of those circular, winding ramps. Ever been on one? A car makes lots of noise as the tyres squeal to make the turn. Heroine drives all the way to the top without the bad guys noticing. Maybe they were all deaf? She then runs one over and pushes the other off the edge of the car park in his van. It explodes on impact. Haven't the screenplay writers watched The Simpsons mock the cliché of exploding cars? Laughable!

    Finally, having been involved in multiple murders, multiple demolition derby car chases, an exploding hotel and being detained by security and police, they calmly get on a train together and disappear as though nothing had happened. Unbelievable!

    I gave this film 3 - but that's generous. The premise for the film was OK, but the screenplay and direction were below amateur.    … Expand
  5. Kivoric
    Mar 12, 2011
    1
    RECYCLING IN HOLLYWOOD, in a industry that should be cutting edge new. This movie takes old suspense plots, dialogues and contrived twists, to churn out a UNUSABLE product. Like a bad pick up line in a bar! OH! by the way good looking babe, 20 years younger that me," I am really a super talented secret agent, but have lost my memory, but am really a good guy, with a soft side. Can you help me?"> Whatever dude! The acting started out good for the first 5 minutes, then lost all continuity as the recycling process began to churn. AND the major plot holes, with all the supposed pre-planning, his blown cover, the inept police, no passport, and customs agents that hand over a bag with explosives, Liam goes around the city, as if he had a free pass to anything. Another one man Rambo ego movie that can take on the world. REALLY? The Final Insult! All that to prevent some scientist from giving the world a strain of corn to feed the hungry nations. If he really wanted to give the world a new corn strain, just post it on the net and all the rest is just mute, we wouldn't have to sit through another pile of rotting corn husk!… Expand
  6. Forrestgump1
    Mar 12, 2011
    3
    "Unknown for what it is .. is a decent not so thrilling adventure .. with a flawless plot twist. Liam Neeson does not feel well suited for this role. More or less a disappointing but somewhat satisfying thriller .which is not saying much" .. C-
  7. em872011
    Mar 2, 2011
    1
    This movie is nothing more than a poorly executed Bourne Identity knock off. On top of throwing in every generic action movie cliche, including a bomb with a digital countdown clock and an over the top car chase scene, it was also full of plot holes, and the characters were so flat I couldn't be bothered to care about them in the slightest. The ending scene was fairly cool, but other than that, this was just another bland action movie. Sad to see an actor as good as Liam taking roles like this.… Expand
  8. churtonhills
    Mar 1, 2011
    0
    Very poorly conceived plot with gaping holes and poor dialogue. It had all the required car chases, assassins, etc. but not worth the celluloid in the end.
  9. fantasy
    Mar 1, 2011
    1
    The movie kept the audience on the edge of its seat until the last 15 minutes. The ending is so preposterous and disjointed that it ruins everything you saw before. You leave the theater shaking your head in disbelief because nothing makes any sense. Without providing any specific spoilers in the details - the guy you thought was a humbel good guy is really a bad guy. And just like in professional wrestling he now turns good guy, but for what reason? And he just waltzes away past the authorities without a care in the wold although they have pictures of him? C'mon! What the hell was the director thinking?… Expand
  10. markscarls
    Feb 23, 2011
    1
    I rarely bother to post a review, but this movie was so terrible I felt obligated to try to help other people avoid wasting their money.
    Although there is one interesting plot development, overall this movie is one of the most preposterous I have ever seen. It is full of plot flaws and inconsistencies.
    Although I saw one professional reviewer who thought the car chases were great, my gi    rlfriend and I thought there were too many, that they were too long, and that they were so unbelievable that it was hard to be excited by them. As a minor example of a plot flaw, how could there possibly be such long car chases in a busy major city with no police in sight.
    Regarding the acting, January Jones can't -- she's a wooden post. Liam Neeson does emote a lot, but it's one note that gets tiresome. Diane Kruger is the only redeeming factor in the entire movie.    … Expand
  11. Eden
    Feb 23, 2011
    2
    DUM DUM DUM. This movie is ridiculous, an insult to intelligence. Phoney Bosnian, Jamaican, German accents, 2 dumb bimbo blondes. What is Liam thinking?
  12. Redhotone
    Feb 22, 2011
    4
    Well that was a terrible hybrid of the Bourne Identity, Inception and the Fugitive. Extremely disappointing and highly convoluted. The special effects finishing was poor enough that it made me wonder if they had run out of budget for the right level of post production
  13. theBIGkBUNS
    Feb 22, 2011
    2
    Really? This movies had an interesting idea, but failed to execute in every way. The plot stalled for 30 minutes and then in 1 minute it would accelerate illogically fast and make the most unrealistic sense. The camera shots during fights were awful. During fights, the camera would basically have a seizure, and the action would blur, and somehow somebody would be dead on the floor. The actors seemed to stop acting in the middle of the film

    Its one of the worst movies I've seen in a while.    … Expand
  14. sh831994
    Feb 20, 2011
    4
    Man, what a disappointment. You think you're going to see the first awesome movie of the year ands you just come out with wasted potential. At the start of the movie, I was really into it. The opening scenes were very well done and I thought e would finally be in for a great movie. But alas, I was wrong. Once were about a third into the movie, it goes from being an intense mystery/thriller to Michael Bay impossible crap. Seriously there was one scene that just made me shake my head and let me asking "Why did they have to ruin the build up like that?" Then towards the end it goes back to being a good, intense movie(except for the twist, but more on that later). Liam Neeson was the shining point in what was an otherwise really bad movie. He elevates every scene he's in to awesome. I mean come on he's nearly 60 and still kicking ass! What more can you ask for? The rest of the cast is fine, but nothing special. Now, onto the twist. This is the thing that kills the movie. Not only was it lackluster, but I(like many) saw it coming from a mile away. Also, there was no build up to it. They found Liam and basically just told it to him. Then the movie just went from there, almost like it didn't even matter. The only good thing to come from the twist was that it led to a really cool(albeit dark) action scene. Hands down best scene of the movie. So overall, Unknown falls far below expectations, is decently acted, has great action sequences, and a horrible twist. This year just continues to be mediocre.… Expand
  15. mrkeys1962
    Feb 19, 2011
    0
    The movie is not only ridiculous but a typical anti capitalist, "progressive" propaganda piece. If your politics lean toward the communist, socialist agenda then you most likely will enjoy this movie even though it is so incredibly ridiculous that it should have your eyes rolling on a number of occasions. If you lean more toward conservative views then I would imagine you will hate it. I don't know what would be considered a spoiler here but I do have to mention...how does one stick a device next to a powered down laptop in a briefcase and manage to magically access the hard drive??? Can anyone ape that ridiculous premise for me? I'm an electronic technician and was thinking maybe there is some fm way of accessing a hard drive on a powered down computer. Just one example of stupid, improbably things peppered throughout the movie. If you liked Ghostwriter then maybe you'll like this too. I hated both.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 38
  3. Negative: 3 out of 38
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    Feb 28, 2011
    50
    Not even Neeson, with his strength and his wounded-giant vulnerability, can prevent our interest in Unknown from sliding into contempt.
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  2. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    Feb 24, 2011
    40
    This is no more (but no less?) than what we have rather oddly come to expect from Neeson in his late period (Taken, The A-Team).
    Read full review
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    Feb 21, 2011
    60
    It is the rare conspiracy thriller that ripens as the villains' organization and motives are gradually revealed.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »