The Anomaly (2014) User Reviews

Entertaining action B-movie could have been very clever sci-fi

[voyou-703-655350 · 5/10 · 23 October 2014]

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.

Average, Could have been better

[barry-steers · 5/10 · 15 November 2014]

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.

Blue Light Smug

[billygoat1071 · 5/10 · 10 September 2014]

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.

meh

[agnesvalkay · 17 July 2014]

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.

Unconvincing, unimpressive performances and a total lack of tension.

[peterp-450-298716 · 2/10 · 1 December 2014]

"Is there a technology that allows people to control somebody else's mind? Tell me about mind control!" Once I was looking at a painting in an art gallery. I was studying this creation of modern art for more than half an hour and still I couldn't grasp what it actually wanted to prove and I came to the conclusion that after rotating it a quarter turn, there won't be any essential change. And then I remember the compulsory reading of a literary work out of the magical-mythical oeuvre of a Dutch writer, who used two pages to describe dead flies on a windowsill. And clearly I recollect the lesson "Statistics" at the university, looking at the blackboard for more than an hour and wondering what all the complicated theorems really meant. I had the same feeling while watching "The Anomaly". After half an hour I asked myself "What the hell am I watching and what's the meaning of it all ?". Seeing the main character waking up for the fifth time in a different location, looking around in a dopey way and not understanding how he ended up there at a different time in the future, began to irritate quickly. Meanwhile I could admire the graceful butt of a lascivious-looking vamp. Although it was a tasty image that claimed my attention, the urge to give up became larger by the minute.

It all starts with Ryan (Noel Clarke), an ex-soldier suffering from a trauma, waking up in a moving van where he finds a boy called Alex who is being kidnapped. He escapes with Alex but soon discovers that he only has a limited time to find out what is happening. To be precise, he only has 9 minutes and 47 seconds each time he wakes up and before he loses consciousness again. Slowly but surely he discovers that he's part of a conspiracy and his actions are coordinated by someone else.

As I mentioned earlier, it takes a while before you begin to realize what it's all about. "The Anomaly" is a dull low-budget film which starts very slowly and finally, when all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place, it all looks fairly simplistic and even ridiculously far-fetched. It's like a rough mix of "Source Code", "The Bourne Identity", "Edge of Tomorrow" and "The Matrix". Regaining consciousness over and over again resembles a bit "Edge of Tomorrow", except that this phenomenon in the latter made sure there was tension and some comic moments. In this SF it's only a soporific effect. The fight scenes that occur repeatedly are a faint copy of this from "The Matrix" with the frequent use of slow motion images which isn't very conducive to the overall tempo in this film. Also the technical implementation by Noel Clarke during these fights wasn't convincing. It seemed as if he was waiting for something all the time. In other words, it wasn't really smooth.

Noel Clarke is quite a handyman in movie land. This British actor (better known for his role in the TV series "Doctor Who") directed this trifle and demanded to act as the leading star. Besides looking puzzled and surprised, painfully gasping after receiving an inhuman hard blow and acting as heroic as possible by repeatedly proclaiming that he eagerly wants to save the young boy Alex, there was nothing impressive to admire for the rest. I am quite convinced that the film was sponsored by a manufacturer of mens underwear, because Clarke was running around in it several times. Also the graceful leading lady Alexis Knapp as Dana, the Mother Theresa of this film, could be admired while wearing it or even less. At the first appearance we could glance at her lower body part and afterwards she was also scantily dressed. Eventually these were all fragments needed to raise the slacking attention, but at the same time I realized that her contribution only served to make things more sensual. Ian "Lost" Somerhalder is the one that appears again and again and who plays a significant role in the whole plot. I could not get rid of the impression that it was more a commercial decision to let him play so the female audience also could enjoy the ride. Brian Cox ("The Bourne Identity," "Mindscape" "Her" and "Doctor Who") has a lot of acting experience , but in this movie he's reduced to a houseplant who hardly comes into the picture.

An unconvincing story, no impressive performances and a total lack of tension. There's not much left anymore to save this from going down the drain completely. And the fact that this is a low-budget film, also means that the SE's won't be impressive. Admittedly, London still looks futuristic with the digitally added buildings at the background and flying airships. But the moment Ryan arrives at Times Square, everything looks average and contemporary (Even a screen-shot shows that "We're the Millers" is still popular in the future.). The complete concept wasn't ill-conceived, only the script was poor and incoherent with some ridiculous situations. You didn't need to wait for this very long. Already at the beginning there was something wrong with the pursuit. Young Alex and Ryan have a small lead and yet they were too quick for the probably well-trained kidnappers. With an Olympic effort they managed to take a nice lead. And despite the high-tech gadgets that were available, they still couldn't prevent sun-flares disturbing the satellites. Eventually I began to wonder if the title of the film wasn't a reference to the film itself. Maybe it was just an exception to the rule "It's so bad, it turns out good".

More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be

Clarkes Ego Spoils Good Idea

[kaz-157-487011 · 3/10 · 16 October 2014]

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.

Worse than bad, worse than very bad.

[azcoppen · 1/10 · 14 October 2014]

It's rare that i am so motivated to write a review by the total, godawful, abject horror of how bad a film like this is. it's a level below basic indie filmmaking, and the English language just seems to lack the appropriate vocabulary to do the nightmare justice.

Do not watch this film - or even waste valuable hard disk space. Do not even try. It's not "The Room" funny in how bad it is. It's simply monstrous in every aspect, and how these people get funded to produce this nonsense is beyond me. Where do you start? The atrocious acting? The pretentious, erm, everything? The dire script? You get lost in the editorial abyss, as it desperate tries to even reach basic mediocrity. Imagine a collection of the most talentless actors imaginable trying to fake their way through an attempt at a thriller with an over-enthusiastic wannabe-Hollywood crew who obviously serve a penchant for over-lighting anything in sight, and you're about 10% there.

I really don't get the point of Noel Clarke. And whoever picked this up in the acquisitions department at Universal needs to be taken out the back and shot. AVOID.

Great little sci-fi flick, full of action and ideas

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 20 June 2014]

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.

Predictable ego project

[JackUK1973 · 3/10 · 25 April 2015]

Noel Clarke thinks he's Will Smith, turns out he isn't.

This is a poor, predictable, sci-fi romp which appears to be an excuse for Noel to be the tough but sensitive guy at every opportunity. All the major plot lines are here; convenient snippets of information learned by the 'hero' through the film, dead wife (for no apparent reason), acts a tough guy while on a mission to save a child, the only woman to appear more than once falls in love with him, last minute twist, it just goes on and on, and on.......*yawn*

You can't help but think that Noel had to direct the film too because no-one but Noel could make Noel such a hero.

Underrated

[Harun_Karali · 7/10 · 15 October 2014]

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.

Good idea but worst brawl scenes

[ari-muratoglu · 4/10 · 17 June 2020]

Clever film but really novice fight scenes in slow motion

Ignore The Negative Reviews

[carlcasso · 8/10 · 18 October 2014]

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.

Good idea but not well realized

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 26 April 2015]

A guy wakes up in a room. There's a flashlight. He finds a kid chained to a wall. He frees him. They tinker with a wall and turns out they are inside a moving armored vehicle. No problem, they just push the door open and jump out when it stops and walk away. They are in London in the future. Well, the guys in the front aren't happy and start chasing them. The two escape to a cemetery where the kid tells him that men in red masks killed his mom. When the bad guys arrive, it turns out that Ryan has some fighting skills and he beats one of them. The other guy knows him. When Ryan starts going through his own pockets he finds a gun and a red mask. But suddenly something strange happens.

Now he wakes up several days later in a room with books and with some type of plan on the wall. The bad guy is there as well. He talks to Ryan as if they work together on some project. We learn more about Ryan. He was military and confined to an institution for PTSD, panic, and anxiety. The boss and researcher there is Dr. Langham who took care of him. The bad guy is working on something that involves the kid.

Again something jarring happens and Ryan wakes up having sex with a prostitute in New York days later. He remembers the kid and decides to take the prostitute with him, but first he has to go through her Russian pimp. More fights ensue. He promises her freedom of she helps him find the kid. Good thing he remembers information from the previous episodes and he notices that each time he has about 10 minutes to get things done before he's transported elsewhere. They escape but the Russians are in pursuit and they also run into the police.

Next he wakes up in a room where a guy is being waterboarded by police. He's there as some physician who OKs whether to continue or stop the "interrogation". The victim is some researcher named Leonid. The two manage to escape. But at every turn the bad guy appears.

Through more of these episodes we discover that Ryan has received some implants by a corporation run by the good Dr. Langham who now has the kid. The aim is through these implants to control people. The problem is that Ryan's implants have a connectivity issue with the satellite which is why he gets these 10 minutes where he gets to be himself. During the other times his body is controlled by Langham. Ryan with the help of the prostitute will try to stop the Langham project to control all humanity and to rescue the kid. He'll have to confront Langham and the bad guy who always shows up and is actually Langham's son.

The Anomaly is interesting and a bit original. It mixes science with futuristic sci-fi with a fight action movie and all told in these short episodes. The science is the strongest aspect. There are also some interesting ideas about humanity and control. I wouldn't recommend looking for plot holes though because there are plenty. The weakest are the fights. Oddly enough it seems that the filmmakers knew the fights were weak too, and how could they not, however instead of trying to mask the weakness they further enhanced it with tricks designed to make good fights look good. Here instead we have several poor fights that looks even worse. They used some jumping camera work and Matrix-like slow-mo editing, which works when fights are fast at normal speeds. But if you have slow and weak punches to begin with and slow them down, well, the result is nothing to brag about. Another problem is the completely uncharismatic lead and a dry villain. You do end up disliking the bad guy mostly because he's a bit annoying and because his role isn't thought out well, but you certainly don't care at all for the hero. Things improve casting-wise once the lovely Alexis Knapp appears, unfortunately she doesn't get enough to do.

The Anomaly is an intriguing, good looking movie that creates more expectations than it fulfills.

Another Groundhog Day

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 25 April 2019]

Noel Clarke fancied himself as an action star. No worries, he also produces, directs and co-writes The Anomaly as well as starring in it.

This means we see him kick butt in some action scenes as well as showing of his muscular body in the nude.

The Anomaly is a low budget sci-fi action film set in the near future. Ryan Reeve (Noel Clarke) wakes up in a van to find himself trapped with a boy pursued by a man in a tweed suit. It looks like Reeve is the kidnapper.

Reeve is the victim of a mind control plot by a controversial doctor. Reeve has about 10 minutes to put things right. If he dies or goes over that time, the scenario resets.

The film is Jason Bourne meets Memento. It even has a prostitute with a heart.

The film has a confusing and unconvincing first half. It is a derivative movie that gets better in its second half.

As Clarke found fame in the relaunch of Doctor Who, he should had worked more on the sci-fi elements.

Sat down, 20 minutes later stood up, and left

[harry_shah · 4 July 2014]

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.

where / what is the Anomaly?

[jk-snip · 4/10 · 7 July 2014]

Overall the premise of the film is very good, but this film raise so many questions for me, which were left unanswered at the end: What is happening with Alex? Why was he kidnapped? What kind of experiment is being performed on our protagonist, and who did he take over during his lapses? And why did it seem he was traveling around the globe?

I am happy to see a film which is not following the usual Hollywood recipe, and made me think. The film reminded me on 'Memento' and at times I saw hints of 'Buried', both films I enjoyed very much. As such I can only recommend this film to people who like the 'not so Hollywood' recipe film.

this sucked ass

[jip_dekker · 1/10 · 4 December 2014]

I'll leave out the summary, since you can read perfectly fine ones provided by my fellow moviegoers in their comments on this film. This being said, some comments made me wonder if I've seen the same flick as some of you.. How on God's green earth can you make any positive statement about this movie??!

I thought it was horrid, the plot was laughable (unintentionally), acting was weak, ending was so bad it made me want to sneeze with my eyes open.. No okay I'm overreacting but in all seriousness, i didn't like it, sorry. And now I'm bummed out, because I have an exam tomorrow and instead of studying I wasted my time with this atrocity of a motion picture. So if you're reading this: Don't do it! It's not worth it! Read that one tricky part about math once more instead!

Welcome!

What did I just watch?

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 6 November 2016]

THE ANOMALY is an extremely confusing low budget British science fiction film directed by and starring Noel Clarke. I like the man myself, I love some of his work, but when it comes to genre films he does seem to make some rubbish and this film's a good example of that. It comes across as a poorly-written rip-off of the Tom Cruise movie EDGE OF TOMORROW or perhaps SOURCE CODE and even after finishing watching it I still wasn't quite sure of what I'd watched.

Clarke plays a soldier whose life is lived in nine minute intervals before it all goes hazy. During each nine minute segment he gradually learns that he's part of a sinister conspiracy aimed at world domination led by a sinister research institute. Clarke must battle against the bad guys and try to beat them at their own game in the time he has left.

This nonsense is merely a background for the film's main focus which is the fight scenes. It feels like Clarke watched a whole bunch of DVDs starring the likes of Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, and Jet Li, and thought "I'll have some of that". Sadly, these fights are repetitive and include some very poor choreography and stylistic effects, such as the super-slow motion which is utilised at possibly the worst times. Clarke is no martial artist, merely a street brawler, and there's no grace in these fights at all. He throws in some nudity and an old-timer role for Brian Cox, but the end result is still a mess whichever way you look at it.

Entertaining riff on Total Recall / Jekyll and Hyde etc

[Cangsome · 7/10 · 16 October 2014]

Your body is under control of someone or something, and you have less than 10 minutes every few days to figure out what's going on. After your 10 minutes are up, you go to sleep and your body goes back to its nefarious activities, of which you have no memory.

The main character experiences a lot of lost time, but he makes the most of his 10 minute episodes of awareness to try to regain control of the situation.

The fight scenes are reasonably entertaining and in the context of the film unavoidable when the main character's associates realize he's having an "episode".

The setup is classic Jekyll and Hyde, the twist being that the alternate villain persona is in control most of the time - this makes the puzzle solving far more urgent. Overall an enjoyable film, if a little predictable in the 2nd half.

Mixed bag of fun (or not)

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 26 January 2015]

It's an Anomaly alright. I do like the idea behind this (though it's not entirely new and fresh, it's a nice take), but it gets muddled throughout. The "science" behind it seems to have quite a few gaps (no pun intended). Noel Clarke seems to want to much at once. The almost 10 minutes thing is a nice touch, but it doesn't work out always (not sure if they ever planned on having all the sections running the exact time window they establish, might have been interesting and very challenging).

Whatever the case, a couple of things do not seem to work (like planting and seeding, "What else is there to do? - actually a couple of things, like re-writing the script or at least re-defining it). It works almost as it is, but there could be more, even without explanations (or longer/shorter time frames here and there). Not to mention location findings and such ... Could've been worse, could've been better - coincidences aside

Brilliant Idea but a flawed script

[coleman601-504-844864 · 6/10 · 24 March 2015]

If only Noel Clarke had waited a little longer. If he had waited longer then he could have fixed the script and/or got a bigger studio to back him. This would have put this movie into the big leagues - a British Minority Report if you will.

Noel Clarke plays Ryan, a PTSD soldier who wakes up in a mysterious place not knowing how he got there. He continues to black out, only becoming himself for a period of ten minutes. It turns out he's being controlled by another personality that has taken over his body and soon learns that the one controlling him has a dangerous objective.

This is a great concept, almost like a Memento with the way the narrative flows. The way the story unfolds is intriguing and has you wanting to discover what's going on as much as our protagonist.

However there are draw backs which is what I think is what has led to it's low score. The characters aren't very engaging to start. Clarke has proved to be a great actor but he's given himself little to work with here. The B grade villains and weird as hell cops don't help either. Ian Somerhalder is the only one who exerts any form of charisma and is given brief moments to truly shine. Others, however, fall flat.

Another thing that bogs the script down is the number of frankly unbelievable plot contrivances. Some characters will make huge logic leaps to further the plot, while other times what our protagonist wants is simply handed to him on a silver plate. I suspect that this may be due to a low budget though which sadly makes the visual FX less than impressive.

Another awkward part is the numerous fight scenes. Clarke is many things but he is not a martial artist and it shows quite a bit. The choreography is the standard Bourne rip off filler and it isn't executed very well. Rather than letting it play out in an intense way, the editor opted to constantly speed ramp parts from fast to slow which can look flashy but when it's in every fight scene it gets tiresome.

This film could have been great, with more time taken on the script and a Luc Besson type director to give the overall film more of a personality. Perhaps this is a rare instance where more money would have helped a lot.

As it is, The Anomaly is an interesting watch, but ultimately a bit forgettable which is a shame with such a good idea.

What a film?!

[bradcheetham · 5/10 · 26 October 2021]

The Anomaly is one of them films you probably most likely to find late one night on them kind of Television channels that aire the cheapest and lamest of low budget B-Movies. Prefably here in England on FilmFour, Channel 5 or ITV 4.

Noel Clarke directs and also stars in this as Ryan Reeve, an Ex Soldier who has suddenly lost his identity. He doesnt seem to know who he is or where he is from or even when he is from! He discovers he is on the run from a institute who conspires to dominate mankind, Reeve's mission is to kill the bad guys, stop the institute and basically become the hero of the day, only downfall he notices he has approximately over 9 minutes to do so, resulting himself being respawned into different places at different times each time,

American sexy boy Ian Somerhalder (From The Vampire Diaries) is the villian of this Miniority Report forward slash styled thriller.

It is quite unusually consuming for the fellow viewer to consider as one of them gags on the side during a Saturday Night in whilst eating a takeaway of Junk Food. Not a must see but definitely worth the laugh that a B-Movie stylised film it really is. Cannot knock Clarke's effort though to be fair.

Quite liked this one

[ninjabert · 8/10 · 24 October 2014]

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.

A good sci-fi that I had previously missed

[DoctorGP · 7/10 · 25 March 2016]

I was rather pleased with this movie, I had not heard of it before, but it did keep my attention. To be fair about 1/3 of the way through I did get a bit tired of them repeating the same Groundhog Day type effect, but it wasn't too bad. Other than that I'd say this movie was worth watching just for the main actress alone despite the little we saw of her (by that I mean time on the screen).

The cast did a very good job, I never felt like anyone was reaching or out of place. The futuristic backdrops were well placed and added a nice touch to the movie.

Basically it's Source Code on a lower budget. If you're looking for a sci-fi that you may have passed up before, give this one a shot, it may please you. I'm happy to have seen it.

Great disappointment

[af46 · 3/10 · 4 September 2021]

Idea is good, however the production is a mess. Russians doesn't even speak in Russian, and the parts you can understand are gramaticslly incorrect. Fighting is on another level... Not the good one. Ryan does not fight, just push people around, fought against 10s of people and not a single drop of blood. And lastly, what's the story with slow-mo...