Unknown :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: February 19th, 2011



I didn't even know about this movie. I didn't even watch the trailers. I just happened to go to a theater and watch this film. It was a nice surprise for me. The poster gave me an idea; this was going to be the next 'Taken' and Liam Neeson is going to kick ass again.

Recently, I've become, if you will, a fan of Liam Neeson. To me Liam Neeson always seemed like a wise master type of character. Phantom Menace and Batman Begins being the two primary examples. However after 'Taken' his image completely changed. Now he's a man who cannot be stopped and that's what I expected from 'Unknown'. I just expected an entertaining action flick, nothing more nothing less.

The story goes something like this: Martin Harris (Liam Neeson), a doctor has arrived at Germany with his wife for a meeting with other scientists when he realizes he left a bag at the airport. He takes a taxi back to get it when he gets into a car accident only to be woken up four days later. He finds out that a stranger has taken his identity as Martin Harris and his wife won't recognize him.

It all sounds like an entertaining action film plot with plot twists to come about. When it comes down to action films, I could care less about the plot and I become generous when reviewing them. I go into the theater wanting to get entertained...But this film does the story bad, I mean very bad. The film is forced to create a character to reveal the plot twist to Liam Neeson almost 3/4 through the film because the writer cannot use foreshadowing techniques. All the sudden the film throws the plot twist at the audience. That's not a plot twist, that's just lazy writing. In order for a plot twist to work the film needs to continually create events that lead up to it (not necessarily giving hints to the audience but the film needs to show that it had planned this plot twist). The screenplay is a mess and it gets worse with the dialogue.

While Liam Neeson does a fine job (or should I say the same old job) of portraying his familiar character, the dialogue is what you would expect from an action film. It's corny, it's filled with one-liners and best of all, an agent says "Jones?" while turning his head back when the drapes behind him start moving. Too funny.

The editing is terrible in this movie. These are some of the worst jump cuts I've seen. For example in one scene, a psychiatrist is saying something along the lines of "Please tell me the story" and in the next cut he says "Interesting story." No additional cuts in between. This is seriously the very next cut. It's so bad that it's good.

The climax is kind of a let down. The twist isn't the worst (like 'Next') but it really cuts down the entertainment factor. Unintentionally funny with its messed up plot and a disappointing climax; Unknown is a poor action film. It's fun here and there but ironically there is nothing quite memorable here.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Sanctum :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: February 12th, 2011

Sanctum is a con artist and a pretty good one too. You'll see James Cameron's name everywhere with Sanctum but for the last time: James Cameron did not direct this movie. Sanctum's cast is mediocre and relatively unknown which will go hand in hand with the terribly written screenplay. The movie fails in a lot of aspects. It fails to pass as a drama and it fails to pass as a thriller; it has no genre. The only thing that can be praised is the 3D visuals and the soundtrack.

The movie has a long exposition yet it gives the audience no detail on the situation. All the audience gets is that there are people exploring an underwater cave and then there are guests coming to join them. There is very little character development and I just didn't care. There are so many characters yet I cannot distinguish between them because they are so stale. The main development the movie focuses on is the bad relationship between Josh the son (Wakefield) and Frank the father (Roxburgh). It's obvious that as the movie progresses, they will become friends and learn how to accept each other.

After the dragging start, the movie finally starts it's main plot as the weather becomes a problem for the cave explorers. Water starts gushing into the cave and the people are trapped. It's very unconvincing how dumb the explorers were, going into an underwater cave without making sure the outside people can communicate to them in case of these situations. And the movie cannot just cover up their mistakes by saying "it's inspired by a true event," because that doesn't say anything.

This movie doesn't know how to manage its characters. There are so many and yet so many wasted. Characters are killed at such a random rate with pathetic reasons and then the movie tries to make the death scenes dramatic. This doesn't work if I don't even know who they are. Not to mention I forget them as soon as they're no more. And of course it's the black guy that has to die first. I came up with a list, a prediction if you will, of people that'll die and in which order and I was right all the time. The bad father-son relationship the movie wanted to go with doesn't work either. As soon as the death threatening starts, they become best buddies. No transition here at all. No drama, no character development. Dialogue is terrible and filled with one liners.

Sanctum can be unintentionally funny too. There's one scene where Frank and Josh are crying and embracing. They tell each other it's going to be okay. And then Frank, out of nowhere says "Alright, let's move on." Were they trying to have a dramatic moment or not? The screenwriter can't be serious with all this terrible transitioning.

Not a lot to say about the positives here. I can't help but to admit the 3D visuals are actually good. You'll see a lot of cool scenery; especially with all the underground setting. The soundtrack does its job; it does go well with the mystical atmosphere.

In conclusion, it's a low quality movie you want to avoid watching in the theaters. It's a rental movie at best. It's not entertaining and it's not an artsy film either. Sanctum suffers because of the dumb screenplay that doesn't know what to do with characters. Visuals should never be relied on to redeem a movie. Never.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆