Review of Anna (2013) by Jesse O — 10 Oct 2014

This film has an interesting, if not particularly unique, concept. This is a concept that's been used in the sci-fi genre for eons now, it seems. This has traces of Minority Report and Inception in there.

Considering the films that inspired it, you'd think this film would be better. Then again, I don't think its inspirations should have any real bearings on how good this film is, or not. But, in my opinion, this is just an incredibly bland and uninteresting film that wastes an incredibly talented cast.

While this film is more a thriller than it is a sci-fi film, you'd think that they'd use the sci-fi aspects to a better effect than they do here. In a way, this is just used to get from point A to point B in a way that's different from the norm.

That's really all the purpose it serves, because this, pretty much, follows the same formula you've grown accustomed to throughout the years. There's not that much time devoted into how the entire Mindscape thing came to be, other than the obligatory exposition at the beginning.

After that, it's business as usual. The memories do come into play in the story, as you get to see how Anna manipulates John into believing one thing when another happens. She does this by manipulating her own memories to change the actual events that John sees.

John, having lost his wife to suicide because she couldn't function happily in the real world, directly stolen from Inception as Leo's wife, after spending all her time in the dream world, can't adjust to what her reality is.

I didn't notice it until now, but it's really a shameless ripoff, at least in that respect. Because of that tragedy in his past, John is more susceptible to Anna's manipulations. Since he couldn't prevent his wife's suicide, he sure as shit can try his hardest to protect Anna.

This would be a good idea if the character was well-written, but he's not. John comes across as an absolute idiot for not being able to see through Anna's manipulative narcissistic ways. She doesn't care who she uses as long as she gets something out of it.

The fact that you think your main character, the driving force of the film, even though it's really Anna, is an absolute idiot is not particularly strong character development. I realize he was emotionally broken from his wife's death and subsequent heart attack when his memories interjected themselves in another person's memory, but he's still supposed to be one of the top memory detectives in the country and he can't see what this girl's doing? He must not have been that good at all.

You're not supposed to think this at all, you're supposed to think that he wasn't emotionally prepared for the demand, and the stress, the job offered due to his past. The fact that you end up think he's an idiot is a really bad sign.

Mark Strong tries his hardest, but even he can't save this character. I really think he deserves better, because this guy has incredible presence and this charisma that instantly elevates anything he is in.

Taissa Farmiga does a very good job as well as she's easily the highlight of the film. She carries herself with confidence and is really a natural when it comes to acting. So, at the very least, the acting is perfectly solid even if the story is anything but.

The film gets two stars because of them and the film is fairly well-shot and put together. The story is as bland and unoriginal as can be, but the acting is solid. Can't really recommend it to be honest, but at least it wasn't frustratingly bad.