The Anomaly [2014]

EMM# : 25144
Added: 2014-12-14

The Anomaly (2014)
If you only had 9 minutes 47 seconds, what would you do?
What is the Anomaly?

Rating: 4.8

Movie Details:

Genre: Thriller (Action| Science Fiction)

Length: 1 h 37 min - 97 min

Video: 1920x816 (23.976 Fps - 2 039 Kbps)

Studio: Unstoppable Entertainment| Tea Shop & Film Company...(cut)

Location:

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Plot
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A former soldier is taken captive and awakens in the back of a van where he learns that he only has a few moments to figure out how he got there.

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agnesvalkay from midlands
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The central idea of Anomaly is a familiar one to recent science fiction fans, as well as fans of the Jason Bourne series. That wouldn't particularly matter if The Anomaly had its own sense of identity or style. It does not.

The idea for films like this is to create a sense of mystery. Initially the film succeeds in doing this, but after some poor dialogue and clumsy info-dumps I suspect that most viewers will stop caring what the film is about. There is no sense of tension and, ironically, the ticking clock that the narrative needs is missing.

some of the performances are below par and The Anomaly feels like a vanity project for Noel Clarke, who casts himself as the hero and directs.

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Red-Barracuda from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Set in the future, a traumatized ex-soldier discovers that he can only experience life as himself in nine minute bursts every few days or so. Consequently, he has no idea what he has been up to in between times but it appears in his other life he's clearly been up to no good. He tries to piece together what is causing this.

The Anomaly is a really good example of what can be achieved in a science fiction movie on a low budget. Actor/director Noel Clarke and writer Simon Lewis have put together a nicely ambitious genre flick that is structured in a really interesting way. Its technique is not dis-similar to the one used in Memento (2000) where we follow a protagonist who is consistently unsure of how he got where he is. It's a great idea and ensures that the story-line remains intriguing throughout. It also allows for the film to change gears suddenly and for us to be thrown into jarringly different scenarios as well as re-locating locations. The special effects are well used for the latter, where there are nice cityscapes of the likes of London and New York – very well rendered on a tight budget.

Clarke himself makes for a good central character. It's quite a physical role that calls also for a fair amount of action set-pieces, so we have lots of slow-motion fight scenes interspersed amongst the more cerebral sci-fi stuff. Ian Somerhalder makes a mark too as a dapper, enigmatic man who seems to be involved with Clarke in his unknown other life, while the rather gorgeous Alexis Knapp makes an impression as a girl who assists Clarke in finding out the truth. Brian Cox also stars but is restricted to a cameo role unfortunately. Overall, I was very impressed with this flick. While it does go down a sci-fi action route to an extent, and that's okay, it was the more mysterious sci-fi puzzle aspects that really made it tick. It's well worth seeking out and it should be supported simply on the basis that it shows a lot of ambition and good ideas, while never forgetting to remain entertaining.

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kaz-157-487011 from UK
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This is my first review so I'll make this quick.

I had to review because I was so disappointed

Ideas 8. Interesting new take on Future Tech Decent Sci-Fi plot. However, although the story jumped around a bit, what was the Plane all about? Fight Scenes 2 (shocking) Was that supposed to be Martial Arts? It was somewhere between Crap Eastern moves and slightly advanced street fighting. Arrogance 9. Smug acting from the protagonists Nemesis. Overall Acting 4 (woeful) Some real bad acting from the supporting cast. Ego 10. Clarkes Baby, probably. I'm surprised he didn't sing the theme tune

Could Do Better.

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Voyou Nobodysbusiness from Turkey
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I like Noel Clarke. His name alone catches my attention to a film, so I watched this one. Without a clue, which is why I could fully appreciate the mystery of the introduction. Clues about the main character's condition come by very slowly, while the story focuses on an ongoing conspiracy, and on fight scenes that do diminish the overall quality and Mr Clarke's credibility as an action hero.

I admit that, at some stage, I am ready to give up. Finally, if clumsily, come some revelations that not only reinvigorate the plot, but bring in an entire new spectrum of possibilities. Only a few will be exploited. The Anomaly will stay way underneath its potential, barely emerging from the colourful Tits & Kicks category it decided to nest into.

As a director, Noel Clarke does have something. Not sure what. As an actor, he is better when directed by someone else. I find obvious that he should stop directing himself. At least not in a main role, like he did in 4.3.2.1.

The Anomaly should have been more character driven and more psychological, with the costly fluff as a bonus instead of being the meat.

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harry_shah from London, England
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With two hours to kill until meeting a friend, I decided to catch this film. Granted I didn't read any reviews nor did I know what the movie was about. But hey it was starting in 5 minutes and Ian Somerhalder was on the advert so I assumed he was the lead....I was wrong....

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

10 minutes into the film I realised it wasn't a comical parody of a sci-fi movie. Nope...this was actually a serious film. Assuming this was a low budget film, I can completely accept the low- budget special effects. I really can. Harder to forgive however is the acting, nonsensical plot (assuming there was one) total lack of direction and the use of every stereotype in the book (kind but troubled prostitute, Russian gangsters, cute kid with messy hair, etc). And this was only the first 20 minutes!

But the acting...oh the acting. The half of the audience that hadn't left were trying to contain their laughter. The hero of the film genuinely looked confused and I assumed it was because likely he had no idea what was going on during the shoot. Until I got home, looked up the credits and realised he directed the thing!

Rarely is a film so bad that I have to walk out. In fact I think it has only happened twice in my almost 40 years. However, 20 minutes into it I vividly recall telling myself - life is just too short, before leaving. Sadly this was just as Ian Somerhalder made a proper appearance but by then I had given up. I can only hope he managed to salvage something of the film - but my hunch tells me otherwise.

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Harun Karali from Turkey
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The story takes time to develop, But when it does, a very interesting story line is set before your eyes, As our main character Ryan wakes up in a moving truck with a kid, not aware of what is happening, what time it is, Or where he is, He does what anyone would do and he starts running, Here's where the plot thickens, he re-awakens in a room, In the room with him is Harkin(Ian Somerhalder) who seems friendly enough, but once Ryan starts asking questions, Harkin becomes aware that Ryan is in fact Ryan and not the person he thought he was speaking to. I have to give the writers credit, The movie might be a bit cheesy, But the scenario was brilliant, could it have been executed better? Probably.

Decent acting by Noel Clarke, I don't need to mention Ian's acting, As he is a well known actor already, Alexis Knapp was better then expected.

In my opinion 4.8 is a ridicules rating for this movie, it should at least be 6.7, It deserves that much just for the screen writing.

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ninjabert from New Zealand
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Low budget but a twisty story that kept me interested. Quite a few sci fi tropes here - hooker with a heart, hero without memory etc but some others that felt if not original, then at least welcome and not out of place. Acting is not as bad as some reviews suggest. Effects are pretty good for the budget - not intrusive and quite subtle in moments. The first 20 minutes or so are quite jarring but persevere and you'll be rewarded. Soundtrack is odd - but you get used to it and it oddly fits the mood of the movie. Fight scenes could be better - you don't really feel the impact despite the slowmo so they come across as a bit fake. That said - they could be worse. Matrix did it better though. Grab a beer or 2 and watch with a friend who is willing to enjoy a neat little sci-fi movie without being too much of a cynic.

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Mek Torres from Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines
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The Anomaly is basically a sci-fi film with only one point of view. It doesn't give much exposition to its questionable futuristic world, unless it has something to do with the main character's fight against his own odds. The plot is appropriately straightforward, even with its heavy ideas, it all consistently fits. However what isn't so clever is how it is put together. How the character picks up the pieces of information is drab and incoherent, that seems like the filmmakers doesn't care much of the mystery and instead focus more on its style. While those pretentious use of slow-motion and lens flares can be cool to look at, it also robs the potential of being at least a solid science fiction film. It's far from horrible as what many people have called it, but then it is also true at being a typical action film that you would watch when you are bored in an afternoon.

By looking at its aesthetics, people might be impressed, especially if you acknowledged its non-blockbuster budget. But it might as well gloss over to the fact that it is a vaguely defined future. We're not even sure if is this really the future or just an alternate universe. Nobody even mentions the year and some of its product placements are too modern (notice the poster of 2013's We're The Millers). A goof like this may be forgiven if the world itself isn't this charmless. The flavor it eagerly provides is the colorful lights. The weapons, the devices, etc. consist lights with certain types of color to undoubtedly match its lens flares. And there is no distinction either in every place they stop into. Whenever it passes from London to New York to wherever else, the additional objects we only see, to make sure that this isn't the same world we are living in right now, are holograms and blips that look exactly the same. And what these things showcase in their screens might indicate a commentary of having an overly commercialized society, but that only leaves to a theory.

The real pivotal hook here is the high-concept. It has to be simple, though the huge deficiency takes place at the first act when it introduces its concept by jumping into various time and countries to show off a set of stylish set pieces and visuals. It gets a lot interesting when the real questions finally unfolds, despite that it is usually tension free. Slick direction helps to keep the attention on, and it's probably too slick for its own good. It's still fine to follow the rest of this nonsense, even though it keeps reverting its potential darkness to silly moves and an unbelievably big deus ex machina. What people would likely complain the most are the often interrupting action scenes that seems to solely exist to look cool than to drive tension. Its trademark slow-mo fights have a groan-worthy welcome, though the extended choreography in the middle eventually becomes entertaining. We should admit that most of them are just unnecessary and difficult to take seriously, but sometimes there is an advantage to it since this is already a bland universe.

As for the acting: Ian Somerhalder could have been effective as the villain if he provides a sense of psychosis, but just like everyone else he is there to look cool. The lack of convincing his nefarious intentions sucks out the fun whenever he is around. The real pleasure is when (possibly spoilers) some of the characters become surrogates of Brian Cox. Cox himself is mostly there to be strapped on a machine and phone in to a footage, but when Clarke and Hemsworth do the impression for him, it becomes ludicrously entertaining.

There is a sense of competency to be found in The Anomaly that sort of glosses the fact that it is still a generic action, and as a directorial debut of its star, it must be a little surprise of not being a total disaster, but this is still not as smart neither as awesome as it wanted to be. With a little vibe of inspiration to The Matrix; single-word title, mind-blowing concept, with cool looking characters, and stylishly constructed slow-mo; the film just doesn't manage to make any of that great. But then there is an undeniable value (plus it is perfectly short), only when there is nothing else interesting around. Because generic action has become so generic, at least this one has an intriguing use of budget, fine to root for concept, a fun mimicry to its only veteran actor, and of course absurd amount of pretty lights.

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carlcasso from Ireland
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OK, firstly this Movie needed to have a massive budget for what is was trying to be but Noel Clarke made it anyway on a shoe string. I'm glad that he did.

What we get is a great storyline, great acting, great action and a great ending. What more could you want from A Movie ?

I'll agree that a bigger budget could have given us a better visual experience and more known actors, but what we got entertained and that's what Movies are all about.

I loved this Movie. I think Clarke did a great job with what he had to work with. Someone is going to give this guy a budget one day and what we will get will be incredible, but until then he will continue to please us with what he has to work with. Well done Noel Clarke. You always try to be different and original. One day they will give you a break and see you for the Talent that you are.

Until then please keep The Movies Coming.

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barry-steers from Planet Earth
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After seeing the movie and reading the reviews I can say that some comments are fair to this film. The premise is very much lifted from Total Recall and Memento with an amnesiac finding out who he is and why he's in the locations he wakes up in. The movie really falls apart as it really should have been produced on a much bigger budget. Doing this on a small budget results in little sets, sparse actors & extras plus limited CGI. This results in the audience being constantly underwhelmed by scenarios and situations that should really be a wow factor. Fight scenes for example seem to be there mostly to fill time and are slowed down for supposed effect but really they show just poor choreography.Noel is not actually a very good actor to be fair so this is more a vanity project as another reviewer pointed out. The ending of the movie was very trite and clumsy but to be honest, a lot of the movie was that. To summarise, a big budget movie done on a small budget results in the feeling of being let down.

Ryan (Noel Clarke)'s wife in the pictures that are shown on camera, is the (also) British actress Freema Agyeman.

Noel and Freema played husband and wife on a parallel earth in the science fiction show Doctor Who.
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AKAs Titles:

Certifications:
Australia:MA15+ (2014) / Germany:16 / Ireland:16 / Netherlands:16 / Philippines:R-16 / South Korea:18 / UK:15