An anonymous voice screams “Please stop” over the opening credits of Noel Clarke’s sci-fi thriller and after about fifteen minutes of watching it those words are sure to haunt your thoughts, as this dull slog runs out of ideas far too quickly for it to sustain any semblance of tension or real worth. This is Clarke’s third endeavour in the director’s chair - after Adulthood and 4.3.2.1 - and it’s a disappointing and confused effort that relies on the outdated Hollywood action formula to pull its narrative along.
To its credit the core idea is an intriguing one. Ryan (played by none other than Noel Clarke himself) is an ex-soldier being treated for PTSD at a recovery centre that is in fact acting as a front for a mind control experiment, devised by the malevolent Dr. Langham (Brian Cox in a brief appearance pictured below right). We first meet Ryan as his mind jumps back into his body - which only occurs for 9 minutes and 47 seconds every few weeks or months - as he embarks upon a mission to save a young boy named Alex, who has been kidnapped by an evil bio-tech corporation led by Langham and his son Harkin (Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries).
Ripping off films such as Source Code, The Matrix and Total Recall to name a few, this British venture unfortunately lacks any style of its own, instead imitating the aformentioned films in a particularly feeble attempt to look cool. A screenplay that can only fashion a variation of set pieces - which always end in some sort of gaudy slo-mo punch-up or shoot out and act as nothing more than a chance for Noel Clarke to play dress up and be the brave, noble hero - results in markedly stale and repetitive viewing. One particularly joyless on-foot chase sequence involves Ryan slowly walking across the vista of Times Square with two cartoonish Russian mobsters (one of whom is played by UFC fighter Michael Bisping) gnashing their teeth, providing one of a multitude of bewildering moments severely lacking in suspense or a sense of fun. In moments when you should be glued to the edge of your seat you may be trying to worm your way out of it.
Add to that an overbearing dubstep soundtrack - which kicks in loudly over the tedious fight sequences that play out like a hyperactive twelve year old has directed them, and a tacky love story with a hooker with a heart of gold - who we first meet being strangled in a sex scene, and it’s difficult to shake the feeling that The Anomaly is imbued with juvenile ideas above its station.
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