Hanna | Review
‘Hanna’ is a very impressive, pulse-pumping revenge thriller, a first for director Joe Wright, who’s past feature films are all dramas. Wright’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’ received both critical and financial acclaim, and the two films showcased his skills as a prominent director. ‘The Soloist’ was a false-step for Wright, but with ‘Hannah’, and a new genre, he seems to have gotten his groove back.
Saoirse Ronan (‘The Lovely Bones’) portrays the titular character, a teenage girl who’s been home-schooled ever since she was an infant by her father, Erik Heller (Bruce Bana). This home-schooling isn’t your typical home-schooling, though. Hanna’s father is an ex-CIA operative who’s trained her to become a formidable assassin. On Erik and Hanna’s trail is Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a government agent who’s been searching for the two of them for years. When Hanna decides that she’s ready and activates a locating device, her test of survival begins.
As Hanna roams through the wonders of the modern world, her life changes. Living her entire life in isolation in Finland, Hanna’s never interacted with normal, everyday people; her “test” finally gives her the chance to do so. Hanna makes her first friend in the hilariously sassy Sophie (Jessica Barden), who’s on a road trip vacation with her English family. The small adventure the two of them go on is great because Hanna gets to feel like a normal human-being. But of course, this paradise doesn’t last long for Hanna, as she’s pursued by many skilled “bounty hunters” of sorts, hired by Marissa to capture Hanna and her father.
The sequences involving Hanna or Erik fighting government operatives, Marissa’s hired hitmen, and other opponents are amazing. The action sequences are expertly choreographed and clean-cut even though they’re fairly short. What makes these action sequences even better is the film’s more impressive soundtrack, scored by the electronic-duo ‘The Chemical Brothers’. The techno-electronic tracks propel the film’s unique action sequences and make them more effective and exciting. The scene where Hanna is escaping her holding facility is absolutely jaw-dropping to watch. Another standout action sequence involves Erik fighting off six or seven opponents at a subway station. The scene was really short, but its thrilling nature and stylish choreography made up for it.
Saoirse Ronan is perfect as Hanna, the misunderstood teenager who finally experiences life in the real world, while at the same time on a deadly mission to figure out a big mystery involving her past. Eric Bana (‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ & ‘Hulk’) is great as the caring father to Hanna. The beautiful Cate Blanchett (‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’) is good as Marissa, but she doesn’t have that much to do in the film besides shoot people and speak in a weird accent. The acting is strong throughout the film, but it’s unfortunate that Blanchett wasn’t given much to showcase.
‘Hanna’ is an overall great modern fairy tale backed by a solid cast and talented director. The wide range of characters in the film is oddly appealing, for it includes a very flamboyant assassin, a motorcyclist, a British family on vacation, a magician of sorts, and government operatives. It’s disappointing that many of the important characters in ‘Hanna’ are given quick and uneventful deaths, making it seem like “what’s the point of their many on-screen moments?” But perhaps that’s what director Joe Wright and screenwriters David Farr and Seth Lochhead want – to play on the audience’s expectations. The film’s tone switches back and forth from action to drama to comedy just as quickly as Wright switched from drama films to ‘Hanna’s’ action-er. The ending to the film is very blunt, and it leaves you wanting more, but the everything about the film before the final scenes more than makes up for this.
