Anomalia: Corrida Contra a Vida

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.