Hanna Reviews

I have seen a lot of movies from this year, some amazing, some good, some decent, some bad and some truly awful. Hanna for me is one of my favourites of the year and fits in the amazing category. The story is always thrilling and further elevated by slick pacing and expertly choreographed and edited action sequences. Hanna is very well made too, there may be the odd occasion where it might feel overdone, but overall I found the cinematography, direction and editing sleek and efficient. The script is sharp and clever and helps to keep the characters well-defined. Speaking of the characters, I was pleasantly surprised at how exceptionally well-written the titular character was, hard edged yet with a sympathetic side, I loved that. The acting is truly excellent. Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana's characters aren't quite as well written as Saoirse Ronan's but both actors do a splendid job in their roles. Best of all is Ronan who is simply brilliant. All in all, amazing and one of my favourites of 2011 so far. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Before this flick was release, there was a pretty good buzz about it. Indeed, Joe Wright was trying something really different than his usual costume dramas, a modern thriller with Saoirse Ronan starring as a young female killing machine and an awesome soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers. Unfortunately, the whole thing was rather underwhelming, I'm afraid. I mean, it was not bad at all, the photography was really beautiful and there was a very strong cast (Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett). I was above all impressed by Saoirse Ronan who must be one of best actresses of her generation. Still, like I said before, the whole thing was not really amazing though. Indeed, I thought the story was rather weak. Basically, it is one of those thrillers with a murky plot where at the end everything is revealed. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the whole thing or the characters involved and the ending was rather anti-climatic in my opinion. I don't know, it seems that Joe Wright didn't really master the genre and never managed to make the whole thing really exciting. Concerning the over-hyped soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, it was just like the movie, decent but nothing amazing whatsoever. To conclude, even though it turned out be rather disappointing, I have to admit that it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The tagline for this movie, "young. sweet. innocent. deadly." is so accurate, it’s great how it completely describes the entire movie without spoiling it. I found Hanna to be an extremely cool movie that took the breath out of me during the first 10 minutes.
Sure, the genetically modified super human lead has been done countless of times before. Naturally, there’s always got to be this big bad villain that wants to get its clutches on this wonder of science. But never has a killing machine with no fear had this perfect appearance of an ingénue. In fact, when she’s not killing, she is clearly the epitome of an ingénue. Saoirse Ronan does a magnificent job of portraying the naive, and contradicting titular character. She really is vulnerable and simple minded, but once the fighting starts, you can't help but be in awe of her precise and lethal nature. She kind of reminded me of Leon from the Professional because they’re both childlike, even though they’re no longer innocent. They both exude this lost bunny in the woods look, but step too close and the last thing you’ll see are the sharp fangs they’ve got.
With such a protagonist, only Cate Blanchett could give life to the corrupted Marissa Wiegler and be an effective and fitting antagonist. The way she presented this role is similar to how she handled Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, only this time, she’s not demented, just plain evil.

As usual, Eric Bana continues to do what he does best, as the stoic, mysterious and great fighter, Erik Heller, He is perfect as Hanna's father and mentor. The only problem is I couldn’t really feel the bond or relationship between them as father and daughter. I’ve observed that Eric has this problem in all of his movies that I’ve seen. He never really manages to make any relationship real or convincing to the audience. Even though I think he’s a good actor, this is why I don’t really like watching him. This time it didn’t distract me much because the film didn’t focus so much on them.

Although I like this film terribly, it lacked a script that would have made it perfect. The first thing that I noticed is that although the three main characters are gorgeous in their roles, the film felt somewhat cold. I think it wasn’t enticing enough to hook the audience; it didn’t leave a strong lasting impression because the emotions weren’t able to translate well on screen. Usually in films, you either root for the hero or the villain, but in Hanna, I didn’t root for anyone, because I didn’t feel the need to. Don’t get me wrong, it was exciting, with the fast paced fighting, and slightly bloody killings. I liked it but I could have loved it.

First half goes from promising to somewhat interesting but loose.
Second half (ok, perhaps last third) goes from not so good to "meh, it ended at last".

The worst of the film comes from the caricaturesque "ultraviolent" (as in The Clockwork Orange) villains in the supporting cast. The film is, also, overedited and searches too much for visual impact than the high tension that it should. The script has some good moments but there are some others where you just can´t believe what is happening (like the way she gets from south spain to germany or how a girl who has just discovered electricity uses internet).

On the good side Saoirse Ronan acts good enough, Blanchett the same (her character is not so good, though) and the premise is fun enough to get you to the end with hope. The best element is Hanna (the character) and you cant help but to hope for another, better, part although you know that just cant exist.

All in all it´s a decent film and a more than interesting way to approach the nearly dead action genre. I came to this film from the Chemical Brothers OST that doesnt work as good as I hoped. The leifmotif-song for the crappy male villain is heard so many times you´ll want to puke.

Joe Wright directs with great skill, like everything he does, but loses some of its dramatic essence, except in some scenes. Saoirse Ronan delivers a perfect performance, expected no less. The supporting cast bring the film very well, but the film is of Saoirse. The script wasn't good, but the film has an interesting story but lacked depth, which is the stronger of Joe. The film could have been better if there had been more footage, a further deepening in the character Hanna. When finishing the movie, I had the impression of watching a movie well directed, with a great soundtrack, brilliant performance (Saoirse), photo with some beautiful moments, but in the whole work becomes just watchable, doesn't let passion. I think the big mistake of the film is Joe having been away from what he does best: drama. It's not that dramas are better, but drama is the strength of Joe, and go to another field doesn't set the tone I needed. Movie valid, but so far away from the epics and forever loved "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement" that disappoints.

Despite Hanna's super-soldier lineage I found this to be just an amazing breath of fresh air in comparison to the glut of Superhero films which we now have in lieu of actual action movies. I'm a massive fan of Atonement so I'm not going to say this is a step-up for Joe Wright, but he's got control of the material in this film that is kind of remarkable. There are so many elements in play in this film which could dominate it (it's kinetic chase sequences, Blanchett's performance, Hollander's creepy as fuck henchman, that score, Ronan's phenomenal performance) but they all cohese together in a way that is just mind blowing. Really there's an energy and intensity to the film which is kind of amazing, and it's built on an honest to goodness emotional core. I was expecting this to be a kick-ass action film, but I was just completely drawn in by both Saorise Ronan's performance (she's now got two of my favourite performances of 2011 under her belt) and the weird meta-family relationship between Hanna, Erik and Marissa.

The visual design is amazing, in fact the sequence where Hanna is escaping from the base felt like something Spike Jonze or Michael Gondry might have cooked up. Just breathtakingly well done, in fact with the blaring (and awesome) Chemical Brothers soundtrack it reminded me a lot of this music video.



I mean I could go on for paragraphs just about the framing in this film, little touches like the camera tilting up to show Hanna leaping between containers from below, or the amazing tracking shot which shows the geography of the containers as Marissa interogattes the family, or Eric Bana's tracking shot of bone breakage. Like I wrote earlier it's just a director in complete control of a film and it's exhilirating.

A girl hunts a deer and kills him almost without any emotion. A man attacks her. It's actually her father and trainer. The girl remains on the ground, exhausted, on a white background in the mountains. Next to her the red of the disembowel deer.
The first scene of the new Joe Wright film does nothing but showing us the way he will take throughout the story, with a cinematography made of visual contrasts and an atmosphere of a black fairy tale as a modern take on the works of the Brothers Grimm.
Hanna, in fact, is like the princesses of fairy tales, motherless, saved from the witch and raised far from the world, waiting to be strong enough to take revenge. Many years ago, Hanna's father, a former CIA agent played by Eric Bana, escaped with baby Hanna and her mother - who died - bringing with him a secret that was worth their lives. So he decided to grow his child on the eternal snows of the Arctic Circle, training her to be a perfect killer.
Hanna is rapid, strong, in addiction of English she also speaks German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, but the only knowledge he has of the outside world comes from the words and books from his childhood. She never met anyone, never seen a city, never listened to music. Her only mission is to kill Marissa Viegler before Marissa kills her.
From here begins an adventure that is an action movie and a coming-of-age in which Hanna finds herself step by step until the revelation of her true nature, with a crescendo pace and scenes mysterious and full of tension. Those scenes are good represented, fast but never chaotic, like the one with Hanna running across the ventilation ducts in the CIA building, where the visual impact and the speed of movement blend with the beautiful soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers to the exit in a place you could never image.
Dialogues are concise and the film revolves around the violent chase between the two protagonists which is also a game between the talent of two great actresses, a Saorsie Ronan perfect in her icy beauty and innocence but also pitiless just like the red-haired Cate Blanchett, who's able to frighten even with her eyes or her voice hitting like a knife. In this all-female fight, the character and the performance of Eric Bana result underrated, even the ending disappointed me a little, since I think he (character/actor) deserved a little more.
Hanna's journey toward revenge is marked by all the typical fairy-tale symbolism to the scene of the encounter with the "witch" Marissa, who comes out from the jaws of an enormous wolf in a pure fable final trait.

The title character is one heck of a viciously deadly weapon. She may be a teenaged girl, but her agility and attack skills are nothing short of astounding. However, much like the film that tells her story, she's not perfect. In fact, on more than one occasion during the film, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) says "Just missed your heart," after having attempted to kill a target yet just barely missing that pivotal organ. Interestingly enough, that line can easily be applied to the film's quality: it JUST misses its heart. There are times at which the film comes close to having one, but there's never enough back-story or character evolution in order for that to happen. If you're perfectly happy with watching a crisp, stylish, entertaining action film with a few impressive performances, you'll likely think HANNA is a great movie. But if you're more of a nitpicker like me and you like to be able to feel something other than the excitement of the action sequences, then you'll think HANNA deserves only the mild recommendation that I'm choosing to give it here.

The opening scenes manage to be both intriguing and mechanical at the same time. The young girl is living in the woods with Erik (Eric Bana), who has apparently given her all the physical and mental training she needs to become a deadly attack viper. On the one hand, these scenes work because it's easy to become interested in finding out why this girl is leading such a different life than most other people her age, but at the same time, much like the place in which these scenes are set in, it all feels very cold and detached. Of course, though, one hopes that, after the first 15 minutes or so, we'll finally start getting some emotional meat here. The answer is that we KIND OF get it, but it's more like we get scraps of it, rather than the full dish that we deserve.

A big part of why things get a lot better after HANNA's opening sequence has to do with Cate Blanchett's pure delight of a villainous performance. In case you've been hiding out in a forest your entire life and didn't know this, this is an actress who loses herself in every role, and the results of that here are terrific. We find out that Blanchett's character, Marissa, was responsible for killing Hanna's mother, which is why Hanna has now been unleashed into the civilized world: to find the evil witch and kill her. One of the best aspects of HANNA comes about when the title character meets up with a family of four and develops a special friendship with Sophie (Jessica Barden), a girl who, despite being Hanna's age, couldn't be more different from our heroine. Sophie's first remarks to Hanna (which involve a comparison between Hanna and singer MIA) are absolutely hilarious, and starting at that point, we already know that this will be a terrific secondary character. The relationship between Hanna and Sophie eventually veers into something you may or may not expect during a particularly tender scene that turns out to be one of the film's better moments.

But Blanchett is still the biggest attraction here. There is an excellently edited sequence in which her character, a cunning CIA agent, is interrogating several people separately. The greatness of this sequence is due to how Marissa changes her attitudes and her questioning approaches depending on who she's talking to. Pure wickedness has never been more enjoyable than when we watch her manipulate a young boy into giving her the information she needs.

One of the reasons why HANNA is a generally effective film is, of course, the "fish out of water" element. Hanna lived secluded in the forest her entire young life, and is now being exposed to an entirely new world. This becomes palpable when she starts interacting with Sophie and the rest of her family (and the disorientation from both sides as they get to know each other is handled very nicely and often even humorously). But there's a great moment early on in the film that ONLY Hanna is involved in, and it takes place when she enters a motel room and is suddenly completely confused by all the electronics: she's put off by the tea kettle, she tries using the remote control to turn off a fan, etc. This is an excellent way of depicting just how different our world is from that of people who live completely shut off from it... and, well, I WOULD praise this element of the film more if it weren't for a tragic inconsistency towards the end, which involves Hanna suddenly being capable of working with a computer and performing an Internet search. Some plot holes are forgivable, but I find this one to be way too significant.

As I said, and as I'm sure you expect, the action sequences are pretty cool, though you shouldn't expect anything of KILL BILL caliber, or even anything as terrific as what Hit Girl accomplished when she kicked ass last year. The film's score is constantly good and occasionally great during the action scenes. One side note, though, is that I find it kind of ridiculous that, when people usually review films and comment on the musical score, they just talk about the score and move on without mentioning who is responsible for it, because, well, it's usually just a boring name. But since people think the name of the team responsible for HANNA's score is "cool" or whatever, there's a spree of reviews that have decided to mention them, and I would bet all the money I have that a bunch of people who are mentioning the team's name hadn't even heard of that musical duo before they checked HANNA's credits. So, as a form of rebellion and to criticize those who have done this, I will NOT be mentioning the name here, but I'll still recognize that their contribution to some of HANNA's scenes is at times pretty terrific. My point is... please give EQUAL credit to everyone, even if their name is as boring as, well, John Williams.

This is the second time that young actress Saoirse Ronan is paired up with director Joe Wright. There's no doubt that ATONEMENT and HANNA aren't really comparable films, since they're so different, but there's no doubt about the effectiveness of this pair. Ronan has an unmistakably tough task being on screen during most of the running time, and while she may not be as searing here as she was in her Oscar-nominated turn in ATONEMENT's first act, she's still very good. One quibble I did have while watching HANNA is that the camera is awfully obsessed with Ronan's piercing blue eyes - as effective as it may be to have a few close-ups of her eyes, it eventually gets tiring and repetitive, because there are too many of them. But that's not Ronan's fault. Like I said, though, the big slice of the acting praise here definitely goes to Blanchett, who gives a teeth-chattering performance. Oh, and speaking of teeth... well... I won't spoil it for you. :)

HANNA may not be the ravishing cinematic accomplishment that ATONEMENT was, but then again, it never really intends to be. It takes advantage of the apparent obsession (and fetish for some, I suspect) of watching young girls violently kick ass on screen, but it milks that obsession effectively, without ever entering gratuitous territory. The film's lackings in the "heart" department may keep it from being more than just good, but for those who don't mind that all too much, this should prove an entertaining ride.

that movie must be asome
i wish i can go see it in theaters

To Read My Review of "Hanna" - awesomebarnhart.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/hanna-2011/