ANNA
Director: Luc Besson
imdb
ANNA
Director: Luc Besson
imdb
It feels like Besson could easily create a Besson Cinematic Universe, which would incorporate all of his female assassins in an Expendables-like crossover.
I wanted to like this so bad, because the visual style is cool, and the action sequences are awesome, but they're surrounded by a dull, lifeless spy drama framed in a non-linear structure that killed every chance of investment.
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
This feels like a more reserved Besson than I've come to expect, and I gotta say, I dig it. This worked for me in a way that I wished something like Atomic Blonde from a couple years back would have. There's nothing exactly revolutionary about the film or anything, I just found it a really overall enjoyable experience.
I thought this was a fine spy thriller with a predictable plot but absolutely bonkers structure - I don't know many commercial filmmakers who would leave an action movie plot as confusing and up in the air as this one for so long. And it's always a pleasure to see Helen Mirren in anything, chewing scenery left and right. Besson is as uneven a filmmaker as they come but I'll count this one as one of his wins.
Yeh fine is a good word to describe this though I also am in Ivan's boat a little. The structure is indeed bonkers and I can't help think how well the reveal moments would have been if it was just a linear story and Anna needs to overcome each obstacle as she encounters them. I was impressed with Sasha Luss; where did she come from? I wane more Sasha.
Mildest of Yays.