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'?

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), who was raised in a forest by her father Erik (Eric Bana). As an ex-CIA agent, Erik taught Hanna everything she needed: hunting, armed and unarmed combat, and all the languages in the world. One day, Hanna was sent out of the forest to assassinate Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), the woman who murdered her mother.

Joe Wright's latest feature is modern-day fairy-tale that is part revenge-flick, part coming- of-age drama. Like his last effort, 'The Soloist', 'Hanna' has some very good ideas that are let down by bad decisions and occasionally over-powering direction.

The film certainly has a very strong beginning. The concept of a killer child may be screwed- up, but this is offset by the curiosity it arouses. Why has Erik raised Hanna in this manner? Who is this woman they want to kill, and why did she become their enemy?

The storytelling is tight, intentionally drip-fed, which keeps the focus on the moment and makes the assassination plan more dramatic. Well, for the first 45 minutes. After that, Hanna sees the wider world for the first time and becomes distracted – which is both good and bad.

On one hand, it allows some insight into the effects of Hanna's blinkered upbringing. Having grown up killing her own breakfast and making her own fire, she is not prepared for her journey through the modern world. Seeing her flick light switches on and off in awe is one of several touching moments, which add a human side to what could have become another soulless gun movie.

However, Wright doesn't know when to pull back on the sentimentality. The film hits its low point when Hanna hitches a ride with a stuck-up English hippy family, which is meant to contrast the lonely, limited nature of Hanna's upbringing. Ironically, this family is even more dysfunctional than Hanna and Erik, and only succeeds in making Hanna's journey more irrelevant.

Her meticulous plan somehow becomes self-indulgent faux-art, featuring slow-motion Flamenco dancing. The film goes so off-course that it is questionable whether there was a plan in the first place. Is the story intentionally drip-fed, or is there just not very much to tell? For a child raised specifically to kill, Hanna doesn't end up doing very much.

That's not to say that there isn't any action. There are a handful of set pieces, and they are a delight to behold. From a fight in a subway to a chase through a labyrinthine cargo yard, the action is wonderfully shot and expertly edited. Long, tracking shots allow for a high level of clarity and immersion. Even this, however, is sometimes ruined with over-energetic camera-work, turning the film into a music video.

Saoirse Ronan is a good action star, throwing herself into her fight scenes with zeal, but her real strength is her acting. On one hand she seems so genuinely lethal that it's a little scary. At the same time, she has a delicate, innocent aura that makes it hard not to feel sorry for her. This is a layered performance that transcends the generic labelling of 'good' or 'evil'.

'Hanna' is not flawed, but sabotaged. Ronan is superb, and the action is fantastic, but even this is not enough to put the film back on course after Joe Wright steered it in the wrong direction. It started off as a good film, but ended up as a handful of good ideas, poorly strung together.

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.

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 really wanted to watch this film but I didn't have the time when it was in theatres. So I recently treated myself to the Blu Ray copy. I decided to check the user reviews before watching it and was very surprised by the amount of negative feedback. The reviews were almost hate posts! So, I put the disc in with mixed expectations and afterwards, I sat, glued to the credits thinking "what was their problem?!" Truly a beautiful film. Don't set out expecting an action packed bad-ass picture (I think that was the problem with most of the negative reviewers). Though not as frequent as your everyday action film, the action scenes are just as exciting as ever. If you liked the fighting techniques in Taken, imagine a teenage girl pulling off moves just as hardcore, if not more. The visuals and sounds of the film are nothing short of artistic. I give it an 8 out of ten. Not the best film of 2011, but definitely not the worst.