[Besson is] riffing on spy movies and their inherent double crosses and triple crosses, stopping just short of parody but letting the audience in on the trick. And thanks to Besson and a willing cast, the trick's a pretty good one.

What ultimately sinks the film is its overwhelming blandness, from the lack of creativity employed in Anna's many kills to Besson's inability to choreograph a pulse-racing action scene...

But unlike Besson's bugnuts, energetically dopey Scarlett Johansson vehicle Lucy, Anna is more invested in winking at the audience than being fun.

Anna is a guilty pleasure, delivering just enough cheese/sleaze to satisfy a viewer’s baser instincts but wrapping it all up in a clever storytelling style that keeps us on our toes and guessing.