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Anatomy 2

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

ANATOMY 2
[Anatomie 2]

(Germany - 2003)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)
Theatrical soundtracks: 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 best students, involving the replacement of various muscle groups with all-powerful, synthetic substitutes. But the drugs needed to curb the various side effects are highly addictive, and lead to madness and murder...

Forged from the European success of its popular predecessor (ANATOMY [2000]), this unnecessary sequel - only tenuously linked to the previous film - is described by its makers as 'less horror, more action', and therein lies the crux of the problem. After a genuinely horrific opening sequence in which one of Knaup's former students (August Diehl) gatecrashes a swish medical gathering and leaves a trail of devastation in his wake, the movie foregoes genuine horror for a slow build-up of tension as our naive hero is first seduced by his newfound friends and then realizes their dreams of a 'master race' are no different from old-style Nazi ideology, and just as misguided and lethal.

The Gothic setting of the first film is replaced here by the faceless corridors of an ultra-modern hospital, and aside from the opening scene, there are no truly memorable set-pieces to distinguish the movie from its run-of-the-mill US counterparts. Writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky and cameraman Andreas Berger conspire to make it look as slick and stylish as possible, but it simply doesn't 'click' the way it should. Marius Rohland's bombastic music score infuses proceedings with much-needed dramatic urgency, and the acting is uniformly excellent, but the film is pretty unsatisfying as a whole. Franka Potente (THE BOURNE IDENTITY) returns from the original, making a brief cameo appearance for marquee value alone.

NB. The title 'Anatomy 2' isn't included on the print used here, and Columbia's disc provides no corresponding English subtitle when ANATOMIE 2 appears on-screen.

German actress Franka Pontente from Run Lola Run and the first Anatomy movie is back once again, and she is still running. I enjoyed the film, athough I must admit I enjoyed the first Anatomy better. Twenty minutes into the film, I was wondering where is Franka?? I was getting a little bored before Franka appeared on-screen. She doesn't show up until later, but she is worth the wait. However, this time, she is an investigator, and not the novice student she was in the first film. The setting of the movie is a Berlin hospital, and once again, we see a medical program that has gone awry. The murder scenes are just as potent as the first movie. And as always, it was good to see Franka again, whom I think is very...very...talented. If I had to compare her to an American actress, she definitely reminds me of Clair Danes. Although the first Anatomy was better, you will still enjoy this movie and be on the edge of your seat.

Anatomy 2 (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2003)

I wasn't expecting much from Ruzowitzky's sequel to his fine Anatomy, which may be why I enjoyed it more than most people seem to have, if the ratings and reviews on IMDB are any indication. Sure, it doesn't measure up to the original, but you can't have everything.

Plot: The Anti-Hippocratic cult from the first film are still active, and are always looking for a few good men. In this case, they're after the brilliant newcomer Jo Hauser (L'Auberge Espagnole's Barnaby Metschurat), who both chafes under the school's strict adherence to procedure and has a brother with a degenerative nerve disease. Jo will do anything to cure his brother, and that's where the Anti-Hippocratics come in--they've been working on artificial muscles. Of course, there's this problem of a lack of willing guinea pigs...

There's nothing new here, but Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters) is a very good director, and he's a pretty good writer, too. You may have seen it all before, but it's done here with style, and the whole artificial-muscle thing is incredibly neat. ***

The Anti-Hippocrates society, first introduced in "Anatomie", is at it again, this time at a hospital in Berlin. Joachim (Barnaby Metschurat), a well-meaning, young doctor becomes involved in the illegal experiments of the society, when he is given the opportunity to join an elite research group that is attempting to develop synthetic muscles, which could potentially save the life of Joachim's brother, who is dying of a degenerative muscle disease.

"Anatomie 2" started off better than the original "Anatomie", with an excellent first half hour that sets things up nicely, but it degenerated shortly after that. Most of the final hour of the film is made up of an endless string of operations conducted by and on the members of Joachim's research group, which is both repetitive and boring (and confusing - maybe it's just me, but I'm sure some of the scenes were contradictory).

Franka Potente, star of "Anatomie", appears briefly in this film (her character has given up on medicine and is now a cop who is trying to shut down the Anti-Hippocrates society), but her total screen time couldn't be more than about 10 minutes.

I was disoppointed by lack of gorey autopsies like those from part 1, but the interesting story compensated for that.

This is a decent sequel. It is not a big let down like Final Destination 2 was for Final Destination 1.

What's a wretched, unoriginal horror movie without an equally uninspired sequel? "Anatomy 2" fits the bill nicely, a vaguely grisly hodgepodge that is about as much fun as leg surgery without anesthetic. It's the same tangle of lame, derivative thriller elements, only this time it cannibalizes the first film directly.

Young medical student Jo Hauser (Barnaby Metschurat) arrives a Berlin hospital, leaving his paraplegic brother in their hometown. Professor Muller-LaRousse (Herbert Knaup) is the revered neurosurgeon who holds the reins. But he's a member of the Anti-Hippocratic Society (AAA -- an auto service?), which eschews the "do no harm" rule in favor of medical advancement. The advancement this time? Artificial muscles, which can augment any muscle in the body, and may end paralysis.

Hauser is seduced (both literally and figuratively) into joining the society, and has artificial muscles implanted in his legs. The problem is, the muscles can be controlled via computer, and the drugs involved are addictive. Then Hauser learns that he is the unwilling guinea pig for the next phase of the robotic-muscle development, where human muscles are REPLACED by robot ones.

Ever since "Run Lola Run" came out, there's been a feel that in German cinema that synth music and a sense of style are all it takes to make a hit. Unfortunately, "Anatomy" isn't style over substance -- it's all style, no substance. Writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky has clearly lost any inspiration he may have once had -- and he never had much, since his previous "Anatomy" film was basically just a slasher fic where the slashing is done with scalpels rather than axes. "Anatomy 2" is just a rehash of a rehash.

The direction is even more bizarre this time around, including some rather kinked-up sex scenes and a clinic that looks like a medical theme park. Ruzowitzky tries hard to convince us to take his "artificial muscle" storyline seriously, but it's impossible. It's comic book science. And it isn't even GOOD comic book science -- one intern puts an artificial muscle in his penis for a little... well, you get the idea.

The characters are walking cardboard figures. Metschurat plays such a naive idiot that it's impossible to feel much real liking for him. The other characters are stereotypes -- sexy evil nurse who seduces the naive hero, evil doctor, and so on. The only semi-likable person in the whole mess is Rosie Alvarez's character, who is in love with Metschurat, but she isn't given nearly enough time onscreen.

"Anatomy 2" is one of those soulless hulks that cries out to be revived as a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 flick. Call me picky, but I don't like goofy, lifeless horror sequels.

A couple of days ago I ordered Anatomy 2 off amazon.com. I had seen the movie in stores, but they wanted too much money for it. So I went to the trusty amazon.com, and ordered it. I got it 2day on the mail, and I popped in the movie. Within mintues, I was hooked into the movie. This movie has so much twists and turns in the movie, you would think that u would be on a roller coaster. It's so wonderfully done. I loved this movie, and I would recommended this to anyone who likes horror/action flicks. And I think that doctors will love this type of movie. The only backback is is that u cant watch the movie in english, since the movie was made in Germany. But if u can get past that barrier and don't mind subtitles, then your in for a treat.

**1/2

From Dr. Frankenstein to Dr. Mengele, Germany has developed quite a reputation for...hmm.. how shall we put it?..."unconventional" men of science.

It's appropriate, then, that the German film "Anatomy 2" should be a brave-new-world sci-fi thriller that deals with the issues of biomedical ethics and just how far science should be allowed to go in trying to "improve" on Mother Nature.

Professor Muller-LaRousse is a world famous neurosurgeon who has been covertly conducting questionable experiments, implanting synthetic muscles into perfectly healthy young men and women (who also happen to be his devoted interns). Even though a disturbing number of these "guinea pigs" have died as a result of the procedures, LaRousse forges on, undeterred and undaunted, convinced - as any mad scientist worth his salt would be - that scientific advancement cannot be allowed to run aground on the shoals of a few trivial dead bodies. His plan is to create some sort of "master race" of invincible semi-humans. Jo Hauser is a promising young doctor who has come to Berlin to work and study under LaRousse, confident that he will be able to make a real difference not only in the lives of others but particularly in the life of his younger brother who has fallen victim to a degenerative neurological disorder. Filled with idealism, Jo allows himself to be pulled into LaRousse's group of sycophantic acolytes, perhaps to his everlasting regret.

The film is obviously intended as a modern day allegory of Nazism - what with its emphasis on group-think, unethical medical experimentation and talk about creating a "master race" - but the movie feels just too much like other - and better - dystopian sci-fi fantasies to be very effective. The intriguing medical ethics issues are eventually shunted aside for a series of protracted action scenes overflowing with typical mad scientist malarkey and man-on-the-run cliches.

That's a shame because the movie starts off with a better-than-average premise that promises a thoughtful re-examination of an age-old theme. However, "Anatomy 2" just winds up being silly where it most desperately needs to be serious.

This is supposedly the sequel to the reasonable German medical thriller "Anatomie" (2000), but apparently they didn't care the story this time, which is basically the same except for some minor points. You see again an aspiring medical student, a secret or two in a prestigious hospital, and so on and on. The director is the same person, who, it seems, is replaced by someone else somewhere behind the cutting room. And you can see Franka Potente, the original's star, for about ... er ... 8 minutes, I guess.

If you have seen the original, skip the story part, and skip the whole picture as well. There is nothing surprising about this newer film, in which, like I said, a medical student (this time, a male!) enters a medical institute, where the students and professors are engaged in some secret experiments. The film is so careless in presenting the "secrets" that you can see through everything in the opening section.

From that part, the film gets worse and worse. The film with its politically correct cast (you know, bad people are all white) is so intent on scaring or amazing us that we are allowed to see some very incredible shots, including very kinky kaleidoscopic "love scenes" and some laughably cheesy medical experiments.

The film tries to give more stress on actions, which are just risible. Imagine the cardboard characters (I mean, bad guys and good guys) running around the hospital, where patients and doctors are watching. And the good guy, being chased, didn't even think about asking for help from someone, or using cell phone to call the police! Even those TV horrors would avoid that silly situation these days.

You see the face of Franka Potente as police investigator very briefly, and that's the only place where you can remember the word, originality. Yes, she was good in the first one, and is still good even in this mess. But you have to wait for her to show up for an hour, which is way too long.

There were a couple of things that I expected this movie to bring back from the original:

1.) I wanted Franka Potente to come back a make a "boom" and bring down the Anti-Hypocraticals.
2.) I wanted it to be scarier a suspenceful than the first.
3.) I wanted it to at least try to stick with the original story line.
4.) Add a twist the the original story.

But this is what I got:

1.) Franka did come back, but she only appeared in the movie a couple of times, and all together was in the film for only about five minutes. She did try to help bring the Anti's down, but didn't have much help in it. If you only want her in the film for that long, you might as well take her out all together. The story would have been fine without her.
2.) It wasn't as scary or suspenceful as the first. I can almost say it wasn't at all. This movie wasn't much of a thriller as the original was.
3.) The only thing that the movie took from the first was that there was a group called the Anti-Hypocraticals. That's it. It is even wierd that it wasn't even as secret as it was. The only thing they were working on were fake muscles that make the person has them stronger.
4.) No twist. Nothing!

All in all, I give this movie two stars just because it had a descent story line. It could have been a movie all on its own. It shouldn't have been a sequel. But than again, was the first Anatomy sequel-worthy? It was good on its own.