Film Review: Hanna (2011)

That Hanna is a 16-year old girl born and raised in Scandinavian wilderness, is well established in the opening sequence of the film where she ruthlessly hunts a deer. She then proceeds to fights a man who turns out to be her father (or something like that) and drags the deer back to her house on a sled, after removing the creature's intestines.

Joe Wright sifts through his Atonement team to put together a brilliant film about Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), a teenage assassin, raised and trained by an ex-CIA, now-rogue agent Erik Heller played by Erik Bana. Hanna has been isolated from the rest of the world by Erik who fears for her life, and trains her in self defense, hoping to keep her out of the sights of another CIA agent, the homicidal Marissa Wiegler, portrayed by Cate Blanchett whose southern accent has a mind of its own.

Now it is around here that you might feel a certain deja vu take over as vivid images of Hit Girl start developing from memory, but Hanna is a great deal more than just a girl equipped with enough to kick your ass twice over, a la Hit Girl. She's intelligent, fluent in several languages, has facts and figures memorized as if her brain was powered by the Android OS, and she probably can slay an Oliphaunt quicker than Legolas. Yet, she's clueless of the real world and everything that comes with it - namely, electricity, friendship & boys.

But Hanna, in the exuberance of her obvious youth, thinks she's ready, after spending one too many lazy evenings wondering what music would feel like. Not satisfied with the dictionary definition offered by her father, she chooses to return to a confrontation with the CIA in an effort to find out more about herself. What begins when she flips the red switch, so to speak, is an irresistible series of chase sequences between the CIA and Hanna as well as Erik, who we are told, is an agent to be reckoned with, being a repository of intelligence and info potentially damaging to the cause of the United States in Eastern Europe.

The film is handled very well by the team of Joe Wright and Seth Lochhead. Wright explores the emerging genre of teenage girls trained to be killers, allowing space for a coming of age story, wrapped within what is essentially a struggle for identity in the face of some very deadly action. To add to all of this, there are some genuine comedic moments in the film, especially when Hanna bumps into Sophie (Jessica Barden) and her British family on vacation, and stows away with them to Spain, where goes out on what is her first ever date. The encounter shifts the focus squarely back to Hanna djusting to life in the real world while she isn't fighting the neo-Nazi goons that the

The plot winds up expectedly, yet merits special mention for the Chemical Brothers who lend the film that much of an edge with their taut soundtrack, which is engaging, tense, light and frivolous when needed. The film is let down in part by what seems to be a weak performance from Cate Blanchett and a kind of glossing over of the history between Wiegler and Heller. If the CIA believes Erik is a threat to the national security of the United States, surely the viewers have a right to know a little more. The chemistry between Hanna and Marissa is interesting though, always giving off a mother-daughter vibe, compounded by their similarity in appearance.

Saoirse Ronan carries the film with a performance that the rumour mill suggests will land her an Oscar nomination, which is maybe a little premature, but not far fetched. She pulls off what is a complicated role which awkward ease and elan, lending an unnatural depth to her character, which contributes to the connect that the viewer builds throughout the film. Eric Bana seems to be channeling parts of Avner from Munich which does him good, as he looks more & more like a concerned father than an ex-CIA sleuth as the film rolls on. The references to Grimm's fairy tales serve as a reminder of Hanna's innocence and youth, blending beautifully as the story takes the characters across Europe.

Hanna is an example of well crafted, disciplined film making, and keeps you involved and on-edge, wondering what will happen next. At times, it does suffer from looking like too many films you've seen before, but it pulls through admirably in the end, leaving you wondering what happens next in the life of a 16-year old ust coming to terms with revelations about who she is and her questionable humanity.

It also leaves you with wet dreams starring Saoirse Ronan and a drop kick, but that's for another time and place.