Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Let's see what's under the surface.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 23, 2013

Anatomy
Score: 3.0/5.0

There's always a scientific explanation.

Kids may say and do the darndest things, but those whacky medical students do the damnedest things. As in the kind of things that will probably damn them to eternal suffering in hell. Anatomy tells the story of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ace medical student who finds herself in a living nightmare in which some of her colleagues decide it would be fun to slice up the living for a closer peek into whatever's on the inside. The real drama, however, is figuring out what's wrong with the organ nestled between these psychos' ears and underneath their thick skulls. Obviously, someone dropped these bozos on their heads one too many times, but at least the result is a movie that's chilling, thrilling, and gruesome, at least at times. It's also one, however, that devolves into a rather stale Slasher when it's all said and done.

Paula Henning (Franka Potente, Run Lola Run) is a gifted medical student who has just bee awarded a spot at the prestigious Heidelberg Medical School where failure at the bottom of the class means a one-way ticket back home. On the train, she meets Gretchen (Anna Loos), a fellow student who is way more interested boys than she is books. They also meet a young man named David (Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey) who is traveling to see a specialist for an unfortunate and life-threatening heart condition. But when David's body turns up for dissection in anatomy class, Paula believes foul play, not natural death, to be at work. Her private investigation leads her to uncover a terrible secret and a group of rogue medical professionals who have bastardized the Hippocratic Oath for their own sick leanings.

One of the real weaknesses in the film is its character roster. There's the lead girl, who is fine. She's spunky and spirited, a bit closed off, but very smart and someone who's capable of confronting her fears. Yet she is still scared to death at the same time. In other words, she's straight off of the Horror/Thriller lead female factory assembly line mold. Franka Potente plays the part well enough but can't add much to a character as stock as hers. She's balanced by her sex fiend friend, the sort who is more interested in the anatomy outside the body rather than the anatomy inside. Her character enjoys a brief surprise that doesn't add much to the story but that at least pulls her out of the depths of true cliché, forced as it may seem. Then there's everyone else, all of the interchangeable pieces with no real qualities, be they friend or foe. The character motivations are terribly uninspired, there's not much tension or fear, and the movie, then, never seems to escape its straight-on appointment with predictable movie destiny.

With a fairly weak character roster, Anatomy's greater plot is forced to fend for itself. That's good news and bad news. Good, because it starts off very well, bad, because it doesn't end with the same flair. The picture does a nice job of pulling the audience into the competitive and necessarily gruesome world of medical science and the study of human anatomy. The world isn't really all that rich, and it's not even as well realized as it is in better, similarly set films like Gross Anatomy and Flatliners, but the basic setup -- the bodies, the gore, and the cold, metallic workspace -- helps to define the movie well enough for what's to come. And what's to come is a bit too much fluff and way more standard Slasher elements than necessary. Even as Anatomy builds suspense in the "whodunit" arena, it spends so much aimless time with its rather boring characters that the payoff as to whether they live or die never finds much dramatic value. And all those death scenes really don't showcase much in the way of visual or dramatic diversity. By the end, the picture loses any intrigue it may have had left in the tank and plays as little more than a basic Slasher picture with the leading lady on the run from and ultimately battling the scary bad guys, bad guys not with razor fingers or a machete but rather a scalpel and a tool to paralyze the body. It's different on the surface, but the substance is pretty much straight out of the Slasher handbook.

The name says it all.

Anatomy 2
Score: 3.0/5.0

Nothing is incurable.

“We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Better...stronger...faster." Wait, isn't that from The Six Million Dollar Man, the old show about a guy with bionic implants and sudden superhuman abilities? Yes, but it's also the premise for Anatomy 2, a sequel largely in-name-only to the Cult favorite Anatomy, the story of a young medical student with dreams of making a difference who unearthed a nefarious network of rogue doctors bent on rewriting the Hippocratic Oath to their own liking, or at the very extreme, ignoring it altogether. The original was a fun, if not fairly superfluous, little Slasher. The sequel, however, takes on a completely different tone, giving up, largely, on the Slasher/Stalker/Horror elements and instead building a story of an idealistic young doctor who succumbs to the dark side only to turn and battle for the forces of good by the end. Other than the name, the German origins, and the returns of the Anti-Hippocratics, Anatomy 2 is more a standalone film than it is a true sequel. Fortunately, it's a decently entertaining, though mostly forgettable, little romp into the darker side of medicine and the place of advanced medical technology in modern society.

Joachim Hauser (Barnaby Metschurat) is an idealistic young doctor who is leaving the comfortable confines of small-town Duisburg for big-city Berlin. His family has a history of muscular Dystrophy and it's his hope to work with the leading doctor in the field, Charles Müller-LaRousse (Herbert Knaup). Hauser works hard and is finally invited into the Doctor's inner circle. What that means, however, is surrendering his idealism in favor of joining the Anti-Hippocratics, a secret, rogue group that works to advance medical science at all costs, ethics be damned. Hauser learns that the group has agreed to artificial implants that promise to make subjects significantly stronger. Hauser, a star soccer player in his day, takes calf implants that substantially up his game. However, the deeper he falls into Müller-LaRousse's Anti-Hippocratic group, the more he becomes disillusioned, forcing him to choose between what is right and what may be beneficial to the scientific community.

Anatomy 2 actually seems to fit the criteria for a story within the Anatomy universe more than the original. The film takes viewers inside the world of the Anti-Hippocratics rather than explore the group's shady workings only from the outside and up against the periphery. Whereas the first film built itself up as a Hack-and-Slasher, the second film enjoys more of an exploratory vibe as it further lifts the veil on the series' villainy and without the added burden of satisfying core Horror audiences. Anatomy 2 is probably better classified as a chilling Drama rather than Horror, then. The core story is really quite fascinating, exploring -- though not always to satisfaction -- the dangers of corruption on the individual and group level when working outside the confines of the human body's natural limits. It's sort of like the "God" complex that's sometimes associated with some in the medical profession, but here realized beyond the inner being and manifested in the physical. It's an interesting tale and one that might have deserved even less in the way of action and more in the way of pure dramatic storytelling, but for the most part Director Stefan Ruzowitzky, returning from the first film to helm the second, finds a quality balance between action and drama that should please audiences on either end of the spectrum, but perhaps not absolutely satisfy either.

Though the nuts-and-bolts plot elements prove well above average, the execution sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. The picture starts strongly with a fairly convincing rush-rush, adrenaline-boosted sequence that depicts Jo's hard life as a doctor always on call and the lengths to which he will go to show loyalty but, above that, save a life and work for the benefit of the greater good, not for himself. When he makes the turn to join the Anti-Hippocratics, his desire to better the world is superseded by his own personal pursuits. The film begins to wobble, sometimes a bit, sometimes substantially, not on core message but in tone and execution. It goes from serious and dark to sometimes buoyant and even silly, bogged down by bland action rather than further exploring the tight drama. And as the first film devolved from an intriguing thriller to a general Slasher, so too does Anatomy 2 shift from a dark Drama to a fairly routine Chase film. Still, there's more overall dramatic heft here, but the change in style might push away those who favored the first film's Horror elements above all else.

Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anatomy
Score: 3.0/5.0

Anatomy's Blu-ray transfer probably won't please all that many fans. While it looks good enough in general terms -- detail and color are fine -- it'll push away grain haters while anti-edge enhancement folks will want to steer clear. Indeed, grain is fairly heavy, but at the same time there's no signs of unwarranted scrubbing. Details, then, remain quite sharp, showing all sorts of facial textures, clothing lines, and various human body internals with strong clarity. Likewise, the general sharpness, stability, and resolution aid in defining crisp background details. Colors are well balanced. The palette is fairly vibrant with only a few lower light indoor scenes that look a little more dim than they might should. Bright outdoor shots fare best, but even the cooler anatomy lab interiors show off some nice, natural shades. Skin tones and black levels never stray too far from where they should be. There are a few random spots of wear-and-tear, but the transfer's biggest technical flaw comes in the form of excess edge enhancement that leaves many a character and object with a thick halo around the edges. It's fairly constant and quite the eyesore, a shame considering the movie otherwise looks rather good.

Anatomy 2
Score: 4.0/5.0

Anatomy 2's Blu-ray transfer looks a good deal better than Anatomy. Gone is the excess edge enhancement; rather than destroying most every scene, it's very light and sporadic here. Grain is also not quite as pronounced, but the image never takes on that undesirable "scrubbed" appearance. On the contrary, details are quite nice, revealing positive skin and clothing textures while capturing with some sharpness and good clarity the many diverse backgrounds in the film, from bright hospital rooms to dark rooftops. Color balance is fine, with a good primary palette that never bleeds, fades to excess, or appears too bright. Red scrubs and blue hospital sheets look particularly good. Black levels are stable, and flesh tones appear natural. This isn't a showstopper transfer, but it's rock-solid for a cheap catalogue release of a smaller movie.

Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Anatomy
Score: 3.0/5.0

Anatomy's only lossless option is the English language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The original German track is relegated to lossy 5.1 status. Fans are sure to be disappointed. However, the film was released theatrically in the United States with that dub track as its primary, so the decision is understandable, particularly considering the film's release as a budget title (the inclusion of the German track, then, almost feels like a bonus). The dub is rather typical, a serviceable listen but nothing more. Dialogue sounds rather detached, unnatural, certainly not up there with something like Das Boot which might be the finest dub work on home video (and another German to English one at that). Music, to begin, plays smoothly and clearly, with a positive surround presence. Later musical elements -- such as a pop song that also plays early in the film -- lack energy, though not to the extreme. Some heavier effects enjoy adequate stage presence, such as the rumbly train carrying the students to Heidelberg. There are some basic crashes and other Horror/Thriller sonic signatures at play, all of which enjoy good, basic elements such as firm presence, vigor, and clarity. The dubbed dialogue comes through well enough, though certainly it can be a bit jarring. The German track feels a bit more balanced, though not always quite as clear. Dialogue comes through very evenly and naturally. There's a greater sense of real space in places -- compare and contrast with the English track the first anatomy class scene at the beginning of the film -- and many of the effects play with a bit more of a natural presence. It's not quite as aggressive and loud all the time, and it's not lossless, but this track, with the included English subtitles, is definitely the way to go.

Anatomy 2
Score: 3.5/5.0

Unlike Anatomy, Anatomy 2's sole lossless option is the original German presentation, here offered in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 variety. However, there is no English dub track. English subtitles, then, are forced. Selecting either of the optional subtitle options displays two sets on the screen simultaneously, one on the top and the other at the bottom. The German lossless soundtrack is of good quality. It's well balanced and suitably aggressive, yielding, at the same time, solid clarity and placement. Musical delivery is average; it's well spaced and flows easily into the stage. There are a few good little added effects, such as positive and spacious dialogue reverberation throughout a fairly empty lecture hall. Bass, when the low end really kicks in, hits hard and rumbles deep with no excess rattling. Dialogue plays clearly and firmly from the center. This is a fine all-around track from Mill Creek/Sony.

Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Neither film in this set contains supplements.

Anatomy / Anatomy 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anatomy and Anatomy 2 are two fairly different movies with varied styles and themes. Yet they take place in the same world and are directed by the same individual. It's nice to see the world from two different angles and via a pair of unique story lines. That the second is not a rehash of the first is refreshing and a little daring, but that film's absence of star Franka Potente in more of a lead role is rather disappointing. Still, both films, flawed though they may be, offer solid, entertaining watches, the first film a little more in the Hollywood mold and the second a bit more of a thinking man's Drama/Action flick. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Anatomy and Anatomy 2 features decent video (despite the excess edge enhancement on the first film) and fair lossless audio (though there is no native language lossless track for Anatomy). No extras are included. Recommended despite the first film's various technical flaws.