In the highly successful thriller Taken, Liam Neeson became a ruthless predator hunting down the kidnapper of his daughter. In Jaume Collet-Serra's Unknown he is a mild-mannered botanist, in Berlin for a conference, whose taxi crashes, putting him in hospital with a hazy memory. When he comes out, his wife (January Jones from Mad Men) claims she's never seen him before, saying she's actually married to Aidan Quinn. Soon he realises that something nasty is afoot. If he can find the taxi driver (Diane Kruger), he may also find the answer.
The film, frenetically shot in a wintry Berlin that looks distinctly more menacing than it actually is, delivers a Hitchcockian storyline without much of the master's ironic style. It is never very easy to believe but at least the film - which has Frank Langella as the hero's American associate and Bruno Gatz, the iconic German veteran who played Hitler in Downfall, as a creepy ex-Stasi agent - provides a fast-paced entertainment to end a Berlin Festival much in need of lighter fare.
Unknown
Cert: 12A
