Search - Anatomy 2 on DVD

Interesting story

Tim | Cambria Heights, NY United States | 12/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

'Less horror, more action'

Libretio | 03/13/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

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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.
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Deserves dissection

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 09/22/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Run Lola Run...Run For Your Life

L. L. Utley | Dallas, TX | 12/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."