Anatomie 2

I have read every comment posted in regards to Anatomie 2 and I am strapped to find a positive review of it. I do understand why people have not enjoyed this movie… but I don't know if those people really ‘got it'.

Anatomie 2 is not trying to live up to it's predecessor, instead it is attempting to evolve to a grander more intelligent film. The first movie came directly to us via the Slasher Genre… this movie is presented as a more sophisticated Thriller. This also means that there is a great deal less of the gore fx.

It is really good to see German films reaching a grand audience over the past few years. Once upon a time Wim Wnders was about the only name people knew from German films. Now we have so many great films from the Fatherland. Films like Run Lola Run, Anatomy and Goodbye Lenin! Hopefully none of them will be tainted by Hollywood remakes.

I did not like this film nearly as much as the first Anatomie, however it doesn't deserve half of the back lash it has received. It still remains a great and suspenseful piece of German cinema. A lot less shock and gore, but probably more suspense and panic than part 1..

I give this movie 8 out of 10.

ANATOMY 2 (Anatomie 2)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS

An intern (Barnaby Metschurat) at one of Berlin's top hospitals is targeted by a charismatic doctor (Herbert Knaup) who's been conducting illegal experiments on some of his students, involving the replacement of various muscle groups with powerful synthetic substitutes. But the drugs needed to curb the various side effects are highly addictive, and lead to madness and murder...

This unnecessary sequel - only tenuously linked to the original ANATOMY (2000) - foregoes genuine horror for a slow build-up of tension as Metschurat is first seduced by his newfound friends and then rejects their dreams of a Nazi-style 'master race'. The Gothic setting of the first film is replaced by the faceless corridors of an ultra-modern hospital, and - aside from a horrific opening sequence - there are few memorable set-pieces to distinguish the movie from its run-of-the-mill US counterparts. Bombastic music score, fine performances, but the film is pretty unsatisfying as a whole. Franka Potente (THE BOURNE IDENTITY) makes a brief cameo appearance, purely for marquee value.

(German dialogue)

For some reason (what? I don't know) I had been putting off seeing this film for a while, even though I am a big fan of the first one. Well, after watching it I don't feel so bad about waiting so long. This film is probably about 60% more boring and uninteresting than the first; Not to mention Franka Potente's screen time is only about 10 minutes total. The film is only around an hour and a half long but it felt like we were sitting there for 2 and a half hours. It was extremely slow paced and uneventful...the only things good about it were the idea of the storyline, the one decent tension building scene and the brother of the main actor. Other than that I can't really give anyone that is a fan of the first a big reason to rush out and buy/rent this thing. 5/10

"Anatomie 2" is a typical sequel which attempts to capitalize on the inertia of the popular first edition while not delivering the star power, creative juice, atmospherics or substance. This flick tells of a young medical prodigy (Metschurat) who falls in with a secret society of doctors who experiment with human bionics. Eminently predictable, less than horrific, with a meager human story, a mechanical and rote execution, and only a token appearance by rising star Potente, "Anatomie 2" pales next to it's predecessor. See "Anatomie" first and don't expect much out of the sequel. (C+)

ANATOMY 2 is not a very good film. It obviously had a big budget, and the visuals are quite polished and slick. But the film itself is cartoonish and uninvolving. The screenplay lacks credibility, and the movie's use of science, as a whole, is laughable. Comic books make up better science than this movie.

The characters are also lacking. The only character of note is the Filipino nurse, who sadly goes missing for much of the movie. The lead is not very sympathetic, and most of the characters who play "doctors" (or interns) look more like a high school clique rather than people who have graduated from medical school.

Also, there is almost no action. I keep hearing "more action", but where is it? I see a lot of running and chasing (in a hospital, no less!) but nothing close to "action".

All in all, a bad film. I haven't seen the original, so perhaps it's better. I don't say this often, but perhaps ANATOMY 2 would have been better had it taken the Teen Slasher route, and gone for dumb mindless fun. In this case, the movie is just dumb and mindless, but not very fun at all.

4 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie)