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Review Anna (2019): Nikita 2.0 with a sniff of John Wick.

genre: action, thriller, espionage






A few months ago a trailer of Anna was released. A female assassin fails to shoot her target because her gun jams and she is forced to fight with every guard present. This action sequence is exciting and well choreographed. Very reminiscent of what John Wick or Atomic Blonde have brought only this time Luc Besson is at the helm. Naturally this got me psyched for Anna. Now I just finished watching this film and I think Besson is slipping.

Why do I think this? First of all, this action sequence most of the people already have seen in the trailer is THE best action scene in the whole damn film. So if you were hoping for more of these you definitely are going to be disappointed. Mind you there is a decent action scene towards the finale which is good in it's own right. Only it doesn't come close to the one of the trailer. There are some minor scenes or montages with some action in it but they are over before you know it. I personally wanted more action scenes like in the trailer. And can you blame me? If you are going to promise Anna is going to be non stop action then you better feature non stop action.

For whatever reason writer/director/producer Luc Besson decided to put all his focus on the intrigue. Now had this been done in a way that was truly surprising then yes I would have welcomed it. Unfortunately this is not the case since almost every twist and turn can be predicted. He even foreshadows his plans by making it abundantly clear that our main character Anna plays chess. So you just know no matter how things appear she is always going to be one step ahead. Another flaw is the fact that Luc Besson rehashes his own film Nikita. Almost beat for beat the same film although with a bigger emphasis on espionage during the cold war. Is Luc Besson getting nostalgic? Look, the idea of rehashing Nikita and giving it a John Wick flavour is quite brilliant. If only he had committed himself to it fully. It's like he forgot what he was set out to do. Now I think about it there is a film out there that does exactly this that shares many similarities with Luc Besson's old story. The Villainess. Definitely one you need to check out if you are still hungry for that action goodness.

Still I must say that the good cast and the way the film is told do make the viewing experience pleasant. Underwhelming and disappointing but ultimately entertaining for sure.









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