Hanna is a thriller crossed with a fairytale and a coming of age drama. This movie has flown well beneath the radar, hence I had no real expectations of it when I was gifted with 2 preview tickets. You probably haven't heard of it either, since it has had no trailers before any other movies that I've seen and very little marketing or interviews. However, it is well worth paying attention to even if the studio isn't throwing much money at promoting it. The easiest description is to say that it is similar to Kick Ass but played deadly serious, with a fairytale twist.
The main character of Hanna is played by Saoirse Ronan, the young Irish actress who featured in The Lovely Bones and Atonement (which was directed by Joe Wright who also directs this with great flair). Hanna is about 16 years old and is being raised by her Dad (Eric Bana) in a remote cabin in the wilderness of Finland. Raised to be a deadly assassin, that is. Days are spent on fight training and survival tactics, nights are spent revising textbooks and going over their cover story. Not long after the opening, Hanna advises her dad that she is "ready". Ready for her mission, which is to go out in the world and kill CIA agent Marissa Weigler (Cate Blanchett with a mostly correct but soft Texan accent). But at the same time Marissa becomes aware of Hanna and her Dad's existence and her mission is to wipe out both.
From this beginning, the film becomes a suspenseful, globe-trotting thriller. Who will find who first? Is Hanna just highly trained or are her fighting skills and reflexes something more? [Side note - this is not a comic book movie - she isn't the hulk or a superhero or anything]. The film also manages to fit in a bit of a coming of age story, as despite her independence and survival skills, Hanna has had little exposure to the modern world and has trouble with some ordinary things. This is where a bit of comedy occurs. She also meets an English family on a driving holiday and falls in with the daughter who is about her own age but completely opposite to her in knowledge and independence which creates a few gentle laughs. As Marissa hunts her prey with the help of some weird goons, Hanna concentrates on getting to Germany to reunite with her father at a fairytale house he has told her about it. This creates a fascinating location for the ending of the film.
The thing I liked most about the movie was the fact that I truly didn't know what was going to happen next. I was quite transfixed in what was happening and didn't have time to think ahead or jump out of the film to figure it out. The fight scenes were really well choreographed and shot in a kind of strobe lighting effect, which matched well with the swirling electronic score by the Chemical Brothers. However, the fight and action scenes are actually spaced fairly far apart, with the rest being filled in with beautiful scenery and scenes of Hanna discovering the world and more about herself. It's actually quite artsy in the visuals and sound. One particular shot is really memorable - a long unedited scene of Eric Bana walking into a train station followed by four goons and the resulting fight. The performances of the 3 main players are excellent: Cate Blanchett is quite scarily ruthless, Bana is his usual rock solid guy and Ronan is amazing as Hanna with her frail, pale beauty crossed with tough detachment and at times a real fierceness. Our only criticism was very small - the accents did slip occasionally and pull you out of the movie.
I've probably told you too much already - it's probably best to go in unprepared and enjoy the ride as me and my friend L did. I do hope some people will go to see this movie - it's a fine alternative to the comedies, kids fare and superheroes that are filling our screens at present. It's quite hypnotic. 4 out of 5.
Yeah I really loved this movie too. Probably because it was a bit artsy! But yeah, an intellectual arthouse action movie. Very cool.
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