The movie trailers for “Unknown” are quite disingenuous, just like the film itself.

The trailers paint the picture of “Unknown” as a follow-up to 2008’s “Taken.” Yet, this film is quite far from that superior, former film.

Neeson is a pint-sized version of his former self in this film. No longer a super soldier, Neeson portrays his character like a clumsy Average Joe.

The story surrounds Martin Harris (Neeson), a celebrated doctor, who is invited to Berlin to speak at a conference and is unwittingly the victim of a car accident after he forgets his briefcase at the airport and attempts to retrieve it.

After the accident, Harris has some memory loss concerning the events leading up to the crash.

To make matters worse, his wife has already fallen into the arms of another man, the real Martin Harris.

This obviously infuriates the possibly real Martin Harris (Neeson) and triggers his famous “Taken”-like rage, but with far less enjoyable consequences.

Is Neeson an ordinary human being or a professional killer? Is he really Martin Harris? Trying to connect the dots in this movie seems impossible in the beginning, but after about an hour, the plot becomes predictable enough for the viewer to aptly guess the conventional ending.

The action in “Unknown,” to its benefit, is fairly subdued and not excessive. Whenever there is a fistfight or brief chase, Neeson provides an impression of an ordinary man fighting to stay alive. His transformation between movies is akin to Superman changing into Clark Kent.

The plot of this film is rather convoluted, with Neeson’s character continually discovering clues to his identity. This, intermixed with brief, realistic violence, makes for a very pragmatic thriller. Think of Neeson as Jason Bourne, but older, and with significant muscle loss.

“Unknown” is a psychological thriller to a movie reviewer as well, being that I am still not sure whether I liked the film enough to see it again.

(PG-13)  (Two and a half stars)