Anna is a spy film directed by Luc Besson. The plot sees Anna (Sasha Luss), forced into a world of calculating intelligence officers and kill or be killed mentalities.
The first half an hour of this film is brutal to sit through, honestly I need to say that now because if I didn’t and you went straight into it then you might turn it off before it gets good. Yes, that is right despite an incredibly dull opening half hour the other hour and a half is surprisingly strong.
The plot jumps around a lot in time which is normally a problem for me, but here I enjoyed it. Besson uses the time jumping narrative to show all of the backstabbing and double dealing, which builds a nice sense of tension and suspense throughout the film that expertly comes to a head in the film’s final act.
Luss is a memorable lead, she nails the physicality maybe even better than Theron in Atomic Blond and is a very believable assassin. However, where her character suffers is in the personality department, in that she doesn’t really have one she is quite bland and charmless. In terms of charm her performance is blown out of the water without question by Cillian Murphy as the charismatic head of the CIA. Murphy as well as Helen Mirren make this film what is it.
Overall, if you can get past a diabolical first half an hour you will find a very enjoyable spy thriller that has no reason to be as good as it is.
Pros.
Sasha Luss
Cillian Murphy
The time jumps
The action
Cons.
The awful first half hour
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 