Calum Gilchrist
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Review: Unknown
11th March
From the trailer, Unknown looks like your standard thriller. It was really portrayed to look like a sequel to Taken. Luckily it ended up being something more interesting and much better than my expectations.
Most people really love Liam Neeson but I’m still never sure how I feel about him. Yes, he’s been in a few great films, like Schindler’s List and Taken (not great but enjoyable) but I’m just not as sure how to gauge his films like I am with other actors I really like.
Unknown, however ended up being really enjoyable and I found Liam Neeson’s performance good for the role. His character was interesting, although I wasn’t as big a fan of him when he starts to remember certain things from his past. At first I thought this ruined his character but his reflections on his past from a new perspective were endearing to his character.
The amnesia idea was played quite well and Liam Neeson’s character’s particular set of skills really made it easy for him to figure everything out. This kind of film always has a nice twist and I found myself second guessing my assumption through most of the film which is always good. I should probably try not to assume the plot twists from the trailers.
One aesthetic observation I have is that there were a lot of scenes that were all blue. It was a really cold blue and it was interesting but I don’t feel it tied in very well. Maybe I’m just trying to point stuff out for the sake of it, but I just found it kind of odd.
I’m writing this review almost a month after seeing Unknown, so I can’t really remember anything about the soundtrack, but I don’t think it was very remarkable. The fighting sequences weren’t breathtaking but they weren’t too hard to watch. I felt some were made of too many fast cuts, but I feel that way about most fight sequences so if you like those there should be no problem there.
Although Unknown doesn’t stand out too much, I wouldn’t write it completely off. If you need something to watch with a family into thrillers (like mine) they’ll probably like the film enough to let it eat a few hours of their time.
Unknown - 3/5 -
Review: The Mechanic
28 Jan
Jason Statham is really entertaining. I have a lot of fun with some of the films he’s starred in but it’s plain to see the pattern in his career. He always plays a well-dressed assassin or burglar. These films are filled with just mindless violence and a very British elegance, but they feel very formulaic now. The Mechanic is just another plain action film, not bringing much interesting to the table.
The Mechanic is a remake of a 1972 film of the same name. I have not seen the original but I hope it was better than this film. The plot is simply that a hitman has to train an apprentice. But this doesn’t become clear for about 30 minutes of the film. It’s not that it’s hidden or was made that way, it was just poor story telling.
The film begins with a hit on some guy, I don’t think it’s explained who the man was. Then there’s some Jason Statham walking about and meeting some people. There’s a kind of explanation about what he does but there’s just NO plot and once the plot finally comes around it’s so thin and flimsy. There are 3 points to the plot but they are separated by needless training scenes and murders. I realise that the idea was to try to show Jason Statham training an heir but that really wasn’t clear. It is very hard for me to actually describe what ties this film together…
Spoilers Here On
Once the dry plot has finished, Jason Statham’s partner tries to kill him, but Statham survives and kills his partner instead. His partner tried to kill Jason as the assassin had killed the partner’s father. That’s all fine and there could have been a good revenge plot going, but it was ignored to the very end and the death of the partner is so under played. He just kind of explodes. No real heart breaking moment, just: “He tried to avenge his father and kill Jason Statham, which cannae happen. It really made no sense that the partner was killed and it seems stupid…
Just realised that Jason Stathams “love” interest was never really resolved. Albeit she was a prostitute that he frequented but I guess he had feelings for her, although that was never resolved and was only brushed over. I dislike when films have loose ends like that, although maybe you’re to assume that he gets out of the business and runs off with her…
Soundtracks are always something I like to look out for. They are an integral part of film making and I know that I couldn’t expect much from an action film but the soundtrack was action, ALWAYS. Jason Statham was driving to a diner and very tense music was playing, even although that was not the mood of the scene.
For some reason or another the film had a grain effect over it throughout, along with a washed out and warm colour filter. I don’t really see what use it had but to make the film seem more gritty than it was. It wasn’t a bad effect but it just seemed unnecessary for the mainly urban settings.
Some weird part of me came out neutral to this film but after discussing it with my friends I was pointed to the fact that it was terrible. It’s not the worst film I’ve ever seen but it really wasn’t good at all. And has received my lowest score ever.
The Mechanic -1/5
