Hanna

Joe Wright's 'Hanna' opens with a teenager (the title character) hunting a reindeer in a snowy forest. What soon follows is a carefully choreographed and skillfully shot battle sequence between Hanna and the person who, as revealed sooner, happens to be her father. Wright holds the viewer's interest right from the very beginning and takes us through a mesmerizing chase as Hanna continues to fight and run. Although the pacing is slow at times, suspense is well maintained. There is some humour which is cleverly incorporated.

The exotic locations are pleasing to look at and the Chemical Brothers's unique score is magic. The cinematography, especially the long shots, are outstanding. Examples include the scene where Erik is being followed by Marissa's agents. The shootout scenes are also exceptionally well done. I only thought that the upside-down shots were sometimes overdone.

The performances are topnotch. Saoirse Ronan shows tremendous potential and proves that she can lead a film. Cate Blanchett is terrific as the ruthless Marissa even though her accent sounds odd at times. Erik Bana is brilliant with his restrained performance.

A slick thriller with strong performances, an awesome soundtrack and great suspense, what's not to like about 'Hanna'?

A 'different' movie. Bad storyline coupled with great direction / camera / sound. Technically brilliant. The net result is quite enjoyable. One does have to suspend disbelief to take in the gaps in logic, but once you do that, it's a good ride.

The entire movie is in effect a large chase, and the direction has brought about this element superbly. The camera work and sound kept me glued.

There seems to be quite a few reviews that talk of all the gaps in logic and reasoning in the movie. They are all true, but I found the high levels of technical brilliance more than made up for it.

In the end, not a 'great' movie, but one that I nevertheless quite enjoyed.

I wasn't super hyped to see this when I first saw the trailer to this in theater but it got me intrigued. Especially how it goes in a direction where a little girl doing action sequences didn't seem lame at all, in fact some sequences was pretty darn cool. They way it reveals what is going on bit by bit was nicely done without giving away exactly and completely what the movie is about in the beginning. Good character driven movie with some good action sequences with a slight artistic cinematography. What is great about this movie is that it isn't just straight forward action movie. Even the soundtrack doesn't have the typical generic action movie style soundtrack, in fact the soundtrack is great. The masses might find this movie to be a bit awkward because it doesn't have the generic action movie feel to it. The plot isn't spectacular but somewhat absorbing. Saoirse Ronan was sometimes mesmerizing with her acting and I buy into her situation in the movie while she was playing Hanna and I wouldn't be shocked if there is a bright future for her in the acting business. However if your one of those audiences that is expecting constant action might be left disappointed. But when it comes to action it shows that you don't need a lot of CGI to make some cool action sequences. And the movie might be a bit slow at times, especially in the middle but overall it's a character driven movie with action in it that is worth seeing. It's a simple story but has just enough substance.

7.8/10

Having read some of the more negative reviews on this site, all I can say is that they all seem to have the same complaint in common. Namely, non-acceptance of certain plot contrivances.

So let me say straight off: if you are the sort of person who didn't like Inception because it made no sense, or the sort of person who didn't like The Matrix Trilogy because it made no sense, or indeed the sort of person who didn't like any of David Lynch's films because (ahem) NONE OF THEM MAKE ANY SENSE...in short, if you are an incurable pedant, you will not enjoy this film and you might as well stop reading this review. Seriously, stop reading, don't watch the film and go calculate Pi or something.

If, however, you have an appreciation for tightly-edited, emotionally engaging, aesthetically pleasing cinema with a brilliant soundtrack and at times breathless pacing, please allow me to take a few minutes of your time.

Hanna is the story of a teenage girl who lives in total isolation with her father. She has vague memories of her mother, and these memories, combined with her (literally) encyclopedic knowledge fuel her desire to leave the relative safety of her father's protection in the frozen hinterland of northern Finland.

In a way, I don't want to say any more than that. If you've read the other reviews on this site that give away more, then I'm very sorry for you, but if not then suffice it to say that her father's motivation for keeping her in this state of isolation appears to be protection, combined with a desire to train her in survival/assassination skills, in preparation for...well that would be telling.

Of course, you don't need me to tell you that she leaves her father's protection and the story proper begins. As Chekov said "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no-one is thinking of using it" and boy, does that rifle get used.

Saoirse Ronan is brilliant as Hanna. At times seemingly invincible, at others pathetically vulnerable, owing to her complete inexperience of the world. We see the world from her unique perspective as she struggles to understand non-familiar interaction, the natural ease of recreation and even the basic electrical appliances that we all take for granted.

The story moves us from one location to the next, painting a rich tapestry of colour and culture, whilst simultaneously (and somewhat comically) contrasting Hanna's desperate need to traverse these territories with the bourgeoisie's seeming obsession with "experiencing" as many of them as possible.

The acting is solid throughout. The only truly great performance comes from Ronan, but Tom Hollander, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana all turn out good performances that serve the picture well.

However the true credit for this film has to be laid at the feet of Joe Wright. None of his previous films could possibly prepare you for Hanna. Wright's mastery of both a tight, intricate plot such as in Atonement, combined with his incredible skill in making this beautiful, thoughtful, action-packed coming of age story mark him out as a director of real class.

It is true that Hanna suffers from a few plot holes, but that plot is delivered in such an appealing, exciting and above-all entertaining film that anyone who isn't compiling continuity errors for some god-awful TV programme that relishes in the fact that THIS ISN'T REAL LIFE, IT'S ACTUALLY ONLY A FILM!! should have a blast letting this film take them along for the ride.

If you want reality, watch a documentary. If you want a very good fiction, watch Hanna.

As I watch this film, I already observe the unconventional treatment of this film in term of color toning. It is same as you watching a fairy tale-ish approach movie this film but it is an action film. Makes me feel it is a modern fairy tale movie with action-pack thrilling twist. The progression of the story is a bit inconsistent there is a high and low but manage to put a high marks on some scenes. The fight scenes well-choreographed but expecting more on the climax which it felt flat but got its mark. The location choice of filming is astounding. Marissa (Cate Blanchett) did a good job in this film, she is a wicked witch in this film and Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is the princess. Another highlight in this film is musical score, I love how the tension build up by its sounds. It makes me feel that I am also part of this movie.