Anna
                                                                                                  
Director: Luc Besson
Year: 2019
Rating: 6.5
I have to admit that I had completely forgotten that I had seen this and that was only four years ago. That sadly says something about my memory but also about the film. It is quite fun while you are watching it, especially if you are a fan of Girls with Guns but at the same time, it is so similar to other films that it doesn't stick in your brain any longer than a meal in your stomach after food poisoning. But as soon as I saw the female killer in the market with her flowing blonde hair, I knew I had seen it, but the rest of the film was a complete blank. Which is fine because like all good spy films, there are a few twists coming your way.



Sure, there were a few similarities between this film and Le Femme Nikita as many have pointed out. Ok more than a few. Ok almost the same film. No, that isn't entirely fair really - it also has strong similarities to Red Sparrow. But I am a big fan of Nikita (and also Red Sparrow) so that doesn't bother me too much. I have enjoyed all the homages (to be polite) to Nikita - Black Cat from Hong Kong, Point of No Return with Brigitte Fonda, the TV series. I guess I am just a strong believer in female empowerment. Especially when they have a gun in their hands. This one was a little too talkie, a little too kissy but a few terrific action scenes and the actress fills out the screen very nicely. As long as Luc Besson keeps feeding us these female killing machine films, I will be there.



Anna (Sasha Luss) is leading a miserable life with some brutish male who gets her involved in a robbery and car chase with the police. When they return to the apartment Alex (Luke Evans) is waiting for them. He is a recruiter. Not from a Fortune 500 Company but an even more evil institution, the KGB. She is promised that after five years, she can be free and independent. Sure and dogs fly. Her first test is right out of Nikita (and Black Cat) - known as the Restaurant Gig. Go in to kill a man and his multitude of bodyguards and escape - with a gun that turns out not to be loaded. A fine action sequence and a lot of dead bodies left behind. Over the next year her boss Olga (Helen Mirren) sends her out on enough executions for her to qualify as Assassin of the Year. Mirren is great as the ruthless humorless Russian head. You would not want to fuck with her. Life is good, she is a top model in Paris, has a beautiful female lover and only has to kill people a few times a week. Blondes in fact do have more fun. The modeling is tougher than the killing. Then the CIA (Cillian Murphy) shows up and the game changes. Directed by Luc Besson with his light attractive style and though Sasha is not a great actress, her Russian cheekbones are fabulous.