Review of Anna (2019) by Davrosdaleks1 — 24 Jun 2019

Walked into this not knowing much. The trailers and commercials were rather vague, and there wasn't much buzz what with Child's Play and Toy Story 4 taking all the attention. I was pleasantly surprised at what turned out to be a fairly good action spy flick.

The movie is more of a stylish version of Atomic Blonde. There are some detailed, well-choreographed fight scenes. The whole thing looks cool as it crosses both the world of espionage and the lead's cover as a fashion model. The plot isn't boring as there are a lot of twists and turn. Cast is strong, especially Helen Mirren as a gruff FBI agent.

This is directed by Luc Besson. As is often the case in his movies (5th Element, Lucy, Valerian), he tends to keep his characters at an arm's length from the audience and focus on their actions. (At least from an American perspective. He's French and my opinion could just be a cultural difference). Though I was interested in the main character Anna's goals and you understand where she's coming from, I couldn't get completely behind her as her backstory and personality did feel a little underdeveloped, plus she isn't the most sympathetic character.

Though I did say I liked the twists and turns, the sheer numbers does get to be a bit much, It borders on the comical.

There are similarities between this and the basic plot synopsis of the director's earlier film La Femme Nikita. I haven't seen Nikita, so I can't tell you if Besson is just recycling material. I do think this is supposed to be flashier than Nikita.

I think the weaknesses I mentioned could turn some people off, but I think this movie still has a lot going for it and worth taking a chance.