Anna [Blu-ray] [2019]

For anyone who is looking for a pleasantly unexpected outlier with respect to your normal run -of-the-mill “action/drama movies”. “ANNA” has the ability to create viewers to think they know what is going to happen, but the movie will flip the script & take an unexpected tangent into the future/past. (It’s not your normal mercenary/hit-man movie. “ANNA’s” early beginnings as well as her current life’s situation gets passed onto the viewer via the timeline of ANNA’s life, and through the movie sporadically jumping into the future as well as by showing what had previously happened in Anna’s life via vivid/harsh flashbacks that jumps around from the present/current scene that had just taken place. (The movie is well written. And I thought that this specific way this movie uses these techniques to keep viewers on their toes. Along with allowing the viewers to understand the nuances regarding Anna’s character, as well as the ever evolving narrative of the movie. Anna’s character would be head scratcher to truly follow her character’s development as the movie went on. Because I don’t think there could have been any other way to make this movie let alone to have the plot of this movie make sense.) Also, in my opinion this movie wouldn’t have been attempted because it wouldn’t have been possible to make sense. “ANNA” was made to capture the viewer & give the viewers the ability to put themselves in Anna’s situation by looking into her future & flashback scenes. (I would have to say that adversity of the impossible was a very different & interesting way to explain the characters point of view.) The movie is fairly easy to follow, and I make this statement assuming that the viewers will be actually paying attention to the movie. It’s special effects look outstanding in 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc. (And also on its digital copy which is also 4K Dolby Vision. On VUDU.) I purchased this 4K Blu-ray movie on sale for $18.00, and I have no buyers remorse whatsoever!... I thought that this movie was enjoyable & entertaining. The few people who watched this movie with me thought it was a refreshingly different type of action/drama movie with an unknown female lead character who did an outstanding job!... I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys these specific movie genres. If you don’t like action, drama, suspense & pretty violent movies then I would pass on a recommendation for this particular movie. (FYI, it’s rated “R” & has lots of violence, sexual content and explicit language.)

This movie starts out a little confusing timeline wise but comes together and makes perfect sense as it keeps moving. It is largely unknown and very underrated. I would compare it to Atomic Blonde but a little better, actually. Very well done. Sasha Luss is astounding, period, but especially for a newcommer with very little acting experience on her resumé. Excellent breakout film for her. She is very tallented. The story was extremely well thought out as well. The plot keeps moving and wrapps up nicely at the end. A good watch for anyone that likes spy and espionage films.

Anna was a spectacular film. The story structure in Anna was completely unexpected, it was amazing and it completely modeled one of the major themes in the movie. Every main character played their parts amazingly. This film provided Sasha Luss a great opportunity to showcase her acting abilities, not just the fighting choreography shown in the trailers. Anna is not a "beat 'em up" movie; It's a layered story with some "beat 'em up" elements throughout. Highly recommended.

Anna a female version of Jason Bourne, Anna’s life is outlines in the move to represent her induction into the fast pace world of international spies and espionage. The movie starts out slow yet, builds speed fast; in a never-ending fast pace action, one normally expected in a spy movie. The plot-line is interesting and believable with Anna, as a very capable action hero in this plot twisting thriller. Entertainment until the end as she engages in an action-packed challenge fighting for her life and freedom.

If you enjoyed Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita, this is similar but more developed. Anna, a poor Russian girl with petty criminal friends, is pressed into being an assassin for the Russians. The twists and turns in her character development are somewhat more extensive than Nikita's were, and this movie has a slicker, Hollywood feel than Nikita. Sasha Luss is terrific as Anna. The extra features with Luc Besson are revealing and worth looking at.

This may not rate as Luc Besson's best (I usually reserve that for Leon and Fifth Element), but Anna is still up there as a great action film with some neat twists. One new wrinkle here is his "playing" with the narrative structure (a'la Chris Nolan), specifically the time elements. More than an enjoyable film. . . .

I personally own 30 of Luc Besson movies were he is either Director, Writer, or both. I like his style in using females as the hero's in his action movies, and the plot developed around them. This is a real action packed movie with nicely done fight and shoot outs. It is a "old ultra violence" type movie as Alex would say from "Clock Work Orange." It is worth the time to watch and enjoy by adults.

Similar to the La Femme Nikita series, the Nikita series, and Point of No Return. This time it is the KGB. A couple scenes on par with John Wick action. The time jumps forward and backwards were irritating. A good junk of the beginning was in Russian with hard to read sub titles which really angered the wife (her vision makes reading them impossible). Good acting and picture.