Hanna

I just finished watching season 2 and I really liked it! I won't compare it with the first season because it has been a while since I've watched it but I would say that it felt almost at the same level, although the story took a different direction. But hey, it's a new season! And I really hope that Amazon keeps it up with more and longer seasons. It's a fairly good mix of drama, action, thriller and many unexpected turns. I found myself really caring about what happens to some characters, seriously annoyed about the decisions of others and often on the edge of my seat, so to speak. Compared to so many average and boring shows available today, this is refreshingly entertaining. Esme Creed-Miles did an excellent job, as well as all the supporting artists.

Season one was great. I was hooked with every episode and the character development was great. Season 2 seems to be pretty bad. Its very redundant and decisions are made that frustrate you beyond belief. Shame cause this series was so good it's first season.

It doesn't happen often, but this series gets a 9 from me while the 2011 movie gets an 8. And that's saying something since I'm a huge fan of Saoirse Ronan, who played Hanna in the film version. Esme Creed-Miles is very effective in the role of the highly-skilled yet "fish-out-of-water" Hanna, and the supporting cast are also quite convincing. Perhaps an obvious fact (given that there's much more time available) but I feel that this series fleshes out the various characters more than was possible in the movie, which allowed me to become more invested in them. My only complaint is minor, but the production team clearly spent less money by filming a lot of scenes at night, so I'd suggest watching in a dark room if you want to understand what's going on during those moments. Keep an eye out for future roles played by Esme as I predict she's got quite a career ahead of her. I was also captivated by Rhianne Barreto, who very believably plays Hanna's one true friend. The direction, scoring, location scenery, and cinematography (albeit a bit dark at times) are impressive. Highly-recommended binging material.

I've reviewed each season of "Hanna", which can be found against the final episode of each run - but I thought I'd put something here too, so sum up my overall thoughts.

I haven't seen the film version of "Hanna", so came to the Amazon Prime series with a relatively clean slate. (I did watch the remake of "The Killing" so it was nice to see Enos and Kinnaman together again). Though I was concerned about what I thought the premise was, being extended into a show, I found an enjoyable series, with excellent music choices and good performances.

Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman) rescues a baby and her mother from a covert military facility in Eastern Europe. Pursued by soldiers, they crash their car and the mother is killed, however, Erik and the baby escape into the woods. 15 years later, Erik has brought Hanna (Esme Creed-Miles) up in the wilderness, infusing survivalist skills with her already unnaturally heightened senses. However, she's frustrated at the limits of her life and a chance encounter leads the agency, led by Marissa (Mireille Enos), to resume their hunt.

There was lots I found I liked about this series. Coming off the back of watching "Treadstone" I worried that again the plot would prove overcomplicated, dealing as it does with a couple of different time periods and a country hopping story, but none of this was the case. I understood everyone's drives all the way through and though there is a little cross and double cross, all the motivations were explained to us ahead of time. Performances are strong, with Kinnaman and Enos standing out, along, of course with Esme Creed-Miles as the titular character. She plays Hanna wonderfully, like a fish out of water at times, but always on the cusp of snapping back into survivalist mode and killing everyone in the room. I really liked the stuff involving the family, and the excursion to Kent but oddly, my favourite part about the show was the music, lots of Karen O, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but the newly created score music was nice too.

I enjoyed the first season of "Hanna" more than I thought I might, with its strong performances and coherent plotting. The second season expands the universe a little, but without sacrificing any of it's core strengths. It's took me a while to get around to season three of "Hanna", around a year in fact since this final season arrived on Amazon Prime. It's through no fault of the show though, as I've enjoyed the previous two runs. This too, was a worthy season and rounds out a series that was much better than I thought it might be.

It surprisingly rare to see a series as consistent as "Hanna" with a true beginning, middle and end.

I love CIA type shows and Hanna stands in a world of her own in this universe as a very unique and much needed offering. The characters are so complex that it's hard to label even the evil ones as purely evil. Incredible writing and acting. They do a great job of showing human nature and exploring various interpersonal relationships. You see characters that do the most despicable things, hate them, yet still understand how they got there. Some even later turn out to be the good guys.

Various father/daughter relationships are explored - the sacrificial, the nurturing, the abusive, etc. And you see the outcome, the kind of children and adults shaped from each.

You see what unaddressed childhood trauma can do to a highly accomplished, extremely powerful and unbreakable adult, shattering and reverting them back to the traumatized child in an instant. I don't want to give much more here but this story line was intriguing to watch unfold.

If you love shows that really delve into human nature and explore the outcomes of psychological manipulation and grooming/conditioning, you'll get your fill here.

If you love shows that feature school-like settings and/or shows that take place in various countries, you'll love this.

If you love a good action-thriller, emotional roller-coaster drama, great entertainment, great writing and acting, you'll surely enjoy this.

This show deserves at LEAST an 8/10, IMO. I thoroughly enjoyed this and the only reason I can think of for not watching this sooner was because I assumed it was a teen show. Thankfully, I was wrong. It's a great show for adults.