Anna (2019)

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

I’ve seen my share of action thrillers before, and Anna is an okay movie for that sort of genre. However, the one thing that seriously hinders this movie’s success is the overuse of going back and forth in time. See, under certain circumstances, that particular plot device can work… but you have to be careful not to overuse it. See, the problem is they use this gimmick WAY too much in Anna, where the story shifts back and forth from the beginning of the movie all the way until the very end.

That really hurts this movie, because when it says some variation on “3 months earlier” or “3 years later” or “6 months earlier”, it almost starts to sound like a really bad joke, and every time that came on the screen I internally started laughing because I was thinking “really?”. You’re not satisfied where this story is going so you effectively have to bring the story back in time to unfold events to show what’s actually going on?

This CAN be clever if utilized properly, but… Anna only got it half right. At first it was intriguing, interesting to see things happen that acted as a counter-move to earlier events in the film. But like I said though, the jumping back and forth in time thing got so overused that it was basically becoming comedic. For that kind of thing to still happen late in the film I wanted to facepalm and shout “SERIOUSLY?!”

Don’t get me wrong, Anna is not a bad film by any means, however it really needed more polishing, better writing and better crafting. People also need to wake up and realize that just because it’s a Luc Besson film doesn’t mean it’s going to be the absolute pinnacle in cinema!

I do like how Anna does kick ass in the movie, she doesn’t screw around(at least when it comes to kicking ass), but for the life of me I have a hard time pointing to anything in this movie and saying “See? I loved that.”. Throughout the film I held onto a distinct feeling of “What the hell is going on?”, and not in a good way.

Yeah, there’s some good action choreography going on, but I’ve always been one who’s more impressed with solid story-telling than choreography and fancy footwork. Also, one thing that hurt this movie was this stupid thing where for some reason the Russians give Anna an unloaded gun… TWICE!!! You’re telling me this super-trained spy woman can’t tell the difference between an unloaded and a loaded weapon and is also so damn stupid she doesn’t check the magazine first?! That doesn’t speak well for the cause of feminism guys.

-Russell

This is not a review of the blu ray itself, but a review of the movie. Very well made female lead movie. If you can get past the suspension of disbelief ( you did with John Wick right?), then this is a very interesting spy agency thriller, with a enough twists and turns to keep watching to the end. It was slammed by many critics, but I sincerely believe that critics can be very wrong, so their reviews should not be entirely used to keep you from seeing a movie. If you’re a fan of female spy thrillers, or John Wick, it is my sincere belief that this movie will fit your needs. (non paid review). Pre ordered the blu ray, so I can watch it again many times.

– starr*child

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Helen Mirren, Luke Evans
Directors: Luc Besson
Format: NTSC, Subtitled
Language: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R-Restricted
Studio: Summit Inc/Lionsgate
DVD Release Date: September 24, 2019
ASIN: B07TKNGB1N