Anna

JPV852 6/23/2021 3:58:27PM 8.4

Decent enough 1980s-era espionage action-thriller that pretty much combines Atomic Blonde, Red Sparrow and Besson's La Femme Nikita. Sasha Luss in the lead was quite good and the fight scenes were well choreographed. The story isn't special but twists were good and it did keep me entertained thanks to a nice supporting cast, especially Helen Mirren. **3.5/5**

sporkproductions 8/13/2021 10:15:43PM 8.4

I'm a sucker for Luc Besson's films. Even when they're bad they're better than most of the action schlock churned out both by Hollywood and cash-grab direct-to-video indies. There is a lot I could rip to shreds from the implausibility of pretty much everything that happens to the less-than-stellar acting at times... but that's not why one watches a Luc Besson film. It's a wild and fun ride that doesn't let up and has some truly inspired action set pieces, some campy humor, and hyper-stylized imagery that makes this a joy to watch.

CinemaSerf 11/27/2022 2:25:59PM 8.4

Luckily, Luc Besson has just enough notoriety left over to stimulate a bit of interest in his films. Had that not remained the case, then this derivative effort would probably never have seen the light of day. It tells the tale of the young model "Anna" (Sasha Luss) who is recruited by "Tchenkov" (Luke Evans) and his boss "Olga" (Dame Helen Mirren) to work for the KGB. She has the looks, the beauty - and the ninja skills, and is soon proving very effective and attracting the attention of the CIA in the form of "Miller" (Cillian Murphy). Quickly she, he, and her Soviet mentor are all caught up in a rather predictable game of cat and mouse. This has got really nothing to help it to stand out or to redeem the repetitive nature of the story. Fight, escape, fight, escape... It's all so routine, and frankly dull. Evans and Dame Helen deliver accents that are as thick as last months Tiramisu and though she does enter into the spirit off her character, Luss just doesn't cut through at all as the ambidextrous and glamorous assassin. It's almost two hours of your life, so I'd think carefully about whether to not you might need to be doing the ironing instead?