Great Movie, a Few Plot Holes

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2011)

After reading some negative reviews of Unknown, I had planned on waiting to rent the DVD. I'm glad that I changed my mind because this movie had me on the edge of my seat for almost the entire two hours.
The gloomy, mysterious setting of wintertime Berlin engages the viewer from the film's first moments. The film is a bit heavy on action-focused scenes, but the intriguing characters are easy to follow nonetheless. Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger give excellent performances. Some may call the ending predictable, but I found it quite surprising. I have read some reviews which are critical of the fact that the entire assassination scheme is planned around a botanist who has developed a new type of hybrid corn. Personally, I think this element enhances the film by making it relevant to a contemporary social and biological concern. Not only does the film highlight the issue of world hunger, but it also references illegal immigration and the attitudes of legal citizens toward aliens. Overall, Unknown is a great thriller which served its purpose of providing high-quality entertainment. For all these reasons, I would consider seeing this movie a second time prior to the DVD release.
However, a few issues may prove disappointing or puzzling for some viewers. Neeson's character is confused by the numbers written in his book throughout the entire movie. Then suddenly, he is able to determine that they form a "simple code." He still doesn't know what the code means, so how does he know that he has interpreted it correctly? This was my first thought, but once the viewer discovers that he is a trained assassin, it makes more sense that he would suddenly regain decoding skills that he presumably forgot following the accident at the beginning of the film.
Another issue is that the man who attempts to kill Neeson in the hospital does so by injecting a lethal substance into a slow-drip intravenous line. This makes no sense, considering that he broke the necks of two nurses with his own hands just to gain access to Neeson. At such a slow drip rate and with the obvious diffusion of the lethal chemical into a bag of saline solution, the IV drip could have taken 30 minutes to an hour to kill him, depending upon the type of substance. Why kill him so slowly?
Neeson's conversion from heartless assassin to hero will be unbelievable for some viewers. Perhaps the filmmakers want us to assume that Neeson's true, good nature is finally able to emerge after the accident has wiped his former life from his mind. If this is the case, I think the film offers an admirable narrative of redemption, commenting on humanity's ability to do good once the path to good becomes clear. But since many people do not hold this positive view of humanity, the point may be harder for some viewers to see.
I would recommend this movie to anyone seeking an entertaining thriller with substantial plot twists. Don't go into this movie expecting it to be 100% realistic. Enjoy it for what it is, and judge for yourself.