An Unknown Quantity

WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for the film Unknown. If you are planning on watching this (to be fair not great) Liam Neeson vehicle, then stop reading now.

There are a number of problems with Unknown, not least of which is the fact that the marketing campaign behind it seemed to be selling it as another “Taken”, which unfortunately this is nowhere near as good as.

The central story revolves around Liam Neeson playing a botanist called Martin Harris who’s involved in a car accident whilst en route to a science convention in Germany. He wakes up in hospital after being in a coma for a few days, and tries to find his wife, however when he finally locates her at the conference she doesn’t recognise him. His initial confusion is compounded further when his “wife” introduces her husband – someone else claiming to be Martin Harris.

Determined to get to the bottom of what’s going on, he tracks down his unfeasibly hot taxi driver (Diane Kruger) who becomes his side-kick, to work out what happened to him. Then he suddenly becomes the target of several assassination attempts so needs to get to the bottom of what’s happened before he’s murdered…

Whilst not unentertaining, this is much more thriller than action – with a very limited amount of action scenes. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t expected an action film of the calibre of Taken, but I did, so I didn’t.

Liam Neeson portrays Harris (version 1.0) as mumbly/incredulous, and January Jones, playing his wife, isn’t in the film enough. Frank Langella is suitably creepy as Neeson’s colleague and Diane Kruger gives Neeson solid support, although it seems to me an unusual choice to cast Germany’s (arguably) most famous actress in a film set in Germany and have her playing a non-German character.

There’s a really good car chase in it (not quite up to Ronin standards) and due to the fact that Harris is a botanist, when he ends up cornered by trained assassins, the tension is palpable, as it’s evident he can’t successfully fight his way out. All of which would make for an entertaining watch. But there was one point that absolutely ruined the film for me, but I can’t explain what it is without being spoilertastic, so you have been warned.

The big reveal is that Neeson is actually a hitman himself, and Martin Harris was his cover identity. When he was involved in the accident, he remembered his cover identity as if it were real. The evil agency he worked for, thinking he’d disappeared, then dispatched another hitman to take the role of Martin Harris instead. Again, this would have been absolutely fine, and whilst not entirely original, would have made for an entertaining twist. But then, during the final battle with the new Martin Harris, Neeson receives a blow to the head which somehow undoes the damage from the previous accident. I’m no Doctor, but surely this doesn’t actually happen outside of eighties cartoons? Wouldn’t the blow to the head not have made his fragile brain even more confused? No, apparently it restores everything back to normality.

Again, I appreciate that there has to be an element of suspension of disbelief when you’re watching a film; but surely this doesn’t apply when you’re lifting plot devices straight from He-Man.

Just saying.

"X" gonna give it to you

So X-Men First Class. Let me start by saying that I was dubious going in...not in the least because I didn't think that James McAvoy had the chops to take over from Patrick Stewart. Plus I'm not keen on the idea of the weird prequel/reboot hybrid it was pitched as...I find the idea of RetConing the X-men films so soon after the release of the last one a bit unnecessary.

However, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. Whilst McAvoy starts off as a Sixties Austin Powers stereotype (I cannot make my peace with Xavier constantly saying “Groovy”), by the end he had grown on me, and made me think that perhaps I had been too quick to judge him. Michael Fassbender goes the other way, insomuch as he is consistently brilliant throughout, until the final post-battle scenes, when his accent really starts to slip. Some people were really down on January Jones as Emma Frost, but I liked her. The cold, distant beauty act encapsulated the Emma Frost from the comics (at least the pre-GenX Frost, anyway), and on a superficial level, she did make those outfits look good.  Rose Byrne and Oliver Platt were both solid, and Jason Flemyng makes the most of the little screen time he has (all in the all the Brits were pulling more than our fair share of the weight – represent yo!) The stand out performance has to be Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, and as a child of the Eighties it is nice to see Bacon in such a big role in such a big movie (I’ve been a fan since Tremors, and the game named after him was a key flirtation device when I was romancing my wife).

There are some flaws in the film, some of which jarred me as a comic book geek, and some of which annoyed me because they don’t make sense in the context of the other films (my point about RetConing your own work!) Firstly, Moira McTaggart is NOT a CIA Agent, she’s a Scottish scientist. Secondly, Banshee is Irish (and his family are pretty much the only Irish characters in the X-universe). Being of Irish heritage myself, it’s a little annoying to see Banshee (and Moira to some extend) being made into Americans because it’s easier for the story.  Thirdly, (and I fully admit I’m being picky), Havok is Cyclops’ younger brother – you’d think they would mention that. These issues are all largely because I’m a comic book purist, and I can get over them. On to the stuff that REALLY annoyed then...

1)  Didn’t a much younger version of Emma Frost turn up in Wolverine: Origin? Just saying.

2)  This was my biggest annoyance – at no point in any of the other three X-men films, did Professor X mention that him and Mystique GREW UP TOGETHER! Seriously, where did that come from.

3)  Of all the heroes and villains to use, Riptide (who isn’t even named) and Angel (the crappy female one) are just poor choices. Even Avalanche would’ve been better than Riptide. I can only hope that if Bryan Singer does get around to doing X4 and X5, he brings in some quality villains like Sinister or Apocalypse (who I freely admit are too big to be Shaw’s sidekicks, however there is a whole Hellfire club to choose from).  As for Angel, I always hated that character. Fricking Jubilee would’ve been better than her.

On to the good, and there was a lot of good going for it. I did like young Mystique (despite the backstory) and if they do turn this into a trilogy I hope they explore her relationship with Azazel (baby Nightcrawler, anyone?). Of the “kids” her and Beast are the best, and I thought Beast’s story was well handled (although the prosthetics at the end really hindered his mouth from moving when he was talking). The other thing I like was the fact that Beast was the only one whose age was about right (in the context of X3).

The highlight of the film for me (and what has been missing from the previous films) was the costumes. Finally getting to see the X-men in blue and yellow, as they should be. I get that black leather is “cooler” (or at least is was when they were riding on the crest of the Matrix’s waves), but ultimately the X-men are SUPERHEROES and it’s good to see them in costume.

Re-reading the above, I might have been a bit unfair on the film, as I did really enjoy it. I was entertained throughout and apart from a weird Rocky-style montage, and the exposition montage explaining to the audience just how the cold war worked in the lowest common denominator, the film was consistently good. There were some good set pieces, and although the final battle is a bit disjointed it really works in setting up Xavier and Magneto becoming the characters that people will recognise.

Possibly the best of the X-films to date, with a neat cameo from Rebecca Romijn. The films only use of the F-word (hey, it is a 12a) was brilliant, and probably the high point for me. Slightly disappointed that there was no “sting” in the tale, but I think that’s only because I come t expect it of Marvel now!

If they can keep pulling off films of this level I’ll be more than happy. Let’s see how Green Lantern compares later this month...