UNKNOWN (12A) Action/Thriller. Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch, Frank Langella. Director: Jaume Collet-Serra.

It’s never too late to become a Hollywood action star – just ask Liam Neeson.

The actor from Northern Ireland has enjoyed critical acclaim for his sensitive performances in historical dramas including Schindler’s List, Michael Collins and Kinsey.

Then in 2008, Pierre Morel cast him against type as an avenging father in Taken and Neeson transformed himself into a big screen bruiser.

The role of cigar-chewing Colonel Hannibal Smith in the recent remake of The A-Team was a comfortable fit and now Neeson flexes those 50-something muscles again in Jaume Collet-Serra’s explosive thriller.

Unknown wraps a simple premise in layers of deceit, hoping to convince us that Oliver Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell’s script, adapted from Didier Van Cauwelaert’s novel Out Of My Head, is a conundrum with a delicious sting in the tail.

Audiences will probably guess the twist well before director Collet-Serra pulls that particular narrative ace from his sleeve but it’s of little consequence because he punctuates the intrigue with some well-orchestrated set pieces.

Dr Martin Harris (Neeson) travels to Berlin with his beautiful wife Elizabeth (January Jones) but after a freak accident, slips into a coma, waking four days later in hospital with fractured memories.

Discharging himself from hospital, he finds his wife... except Liz doesn’t recognise him and another man (Aidan Quinn) with the same name is on her arm.

Unknown is an entertaining mystery, punctuated by terrific action sequences including a crunching car chase souped up to emulate the Bourne films.

Fans of Taken will enjoy the constant bombardment of fist fights and crashes, culminating in a pyrotechnic-laden finale that takes the roof off the Berlin film sets but not quite the multiplexes.