Anna doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the genre, but is still a solid action-spy-thriller that fans of Luc Besson will want to check out.
“Beneath Anna Poliatova’s striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world’s most feared government assassins. An electrifying thrill ride unfolding with propulsive energy, startling twists, and breathtaking action, Anna introduces Sasha Luss in the title role with a star-studded cast including Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy and Luke Evans.”
Luc Besson has had a colorful career, with a lot of hits and misses over the years. When he does something right, like directing Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, or writing fun films such as The Transporter and Taken, it certainly is a memorable experience. However, he can also tend to get bogged down in his own stylistic choices and desires to find unknown talent to star in his films. Anna is about as in the middle of the road you can get with the extremes of Luc Besson.
Anna, played by Sasha Luss, a Russian model who has appeared in only one other film, a Luc Besson film, actually does quite well in the title role. Her journey from an abusive relationship and downtrodden life into a KGB agent is quite fascinating, as is the changes she goes through along the way. She goes above and beyond in her portrayal of an action star, doing some very impressive physical stunts that definitely remind you of Luc Besson’s style. Besson’s desire to cast unknowns in his films don’t always pay off, like when he ‘discovered’ the female lead in Transporter 3 when he saw he walk across a street, but in Anna, Luss demonstrates she knows what she’s doing and is entertaining in the process. Helping to round out the cast is an impressive array of actors, including Helen Mirren, Luke Evans and Cillian Murphy. Their relationships with Anna are all woven quite differently, but each make their impression on the film.
What makes Luc Besson stand out is definitely his action style, and he doesn’t disappoint in Anna. There are a number of very impressive action sequences, namely the restaurant scene, with beautiful fight choreography which Sasha Luss seems to do with ease. This extends to the entire film in all the fighting and action sequences.
I quite enjoyed the basis of the story, a Russian girl trained by the KGB. You don’t see many films about opposing intelligence communities, so it was a refreshing take on the genre to an extent. Although the story was engaging and the pacing fine, the thing that took this film down quite a few notches, for me, was the constant jumping around in time. You’ll see a sequence play out, then we jump back 6 months to explain why this happened. Or, a sequence will play out, then it jumps back 10 minutes to see the sequence from a different point of view. It’s all over the place and hard to follow at times. Admittedly, this method does allow for some tension that otherwise might not be there if you knew the entire picture, but I just feel there had to have been a better way to tell this story than jumping around in time constantly.
Although I felt the method of the storytelling could have been better, the story itself is quite solid with a mixture of action and a spy thriller. Luc Besson doesn’t hit this one out of the park, but given his history as of late, it’s a step back in the right direction to the genre he does best.
Video
Anna is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen featuring Dolby Vision. The Dolby Vision produces an absolutely gorgeous picture with dynamic metadata that ensure that each scene looks its absolute best. Anna has such an array of beautiful colors in the sequences that take us all across Europe, from the colorful spires of Russia, to the nightlife of Paris, the colors are all vibrant and rich, with deep blacks that provide a great contrast throughout.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos, another great aspect of this disc. The track has a great balance between surrounds and center channel, and being an action film, they definitely get a workout here. Ranges all sound nice, with crisp, clear sound that never overpowers the dialogue of the center channel. But, as I said, the action sequences will be where this track will really shine.
Special Features
Some interesting extras featured on this disc that fans of the film will want to check out. These are located on the Blu-Ray disc and include:
- Dressing a Doll: Costumes of Anna
- Anatomy of a Scene: Restaurant Fight
- Unnesting a Russian Doll: Making Anna
- Constructing the Car Chase
This may not be Luc Besson’s best work, but it’s far from his worst. Anna provides a solid, entertaining story, if you can make sense of the time jumps, with impressive actions sequences that will remind you of what Besson is truly capable of.