HANNA 3.5****


Hanna (Saorise Roman… she was the young girl in “Atonement” and the lead in “Lovely Bones”) is a sixteen-year-old girl living out in the Finnish wilderness with her father, Erik (Eric Bana). Her father aggressively trains Hanna from when she was a young girl to be a lethal and stealthy killer armed with an amazing intelligence that includes speaking multiple languages. The ultimate goal of the training is for Hanna to find and to kill Marissa Wiegler, played by Cate Blanchet, a handler for the CIA. The motive behind why they want her dead is part of an interesting storyline I won’t give away. We are led on a journey with Hanna, uncovering truths about her past and seeing what it's like in the real world being a teenage girl with remarkable skills ( along the lines of Bourne) all the while being hunted by very skilled killers.
Joe Wright, the Director ( he directed “Atonement” and “Pride & Prejudice”) takes an action movie and mixes it with fairy tale themes and beautiful masterful shots and creates a movie that is unlike any CIA spy movie you’ve ever seen before. On top of that, his action scenes are excellent. They're not loud or explosive, but instead the camera focuses on the character’s face while in hand to hand combat, and on occasion I’ll be done t all in one shot making it that much more impressive and real.
The cast is excellent and is strongly led by Saoirse Ronan, who is and will be a huge talent in the next few years. She plays Hanna extremely well showing her vulnerable and innocent side while also being this bad ass teenage girl. Eric Bana plays an integral part as the father. Finally, we have Cate Blanchet who is always going to be great and she especially shines in this role. Marissa Wiegler is pretty much seen as a wicked witch but with a strong sadistic, almost psychotic personality, making her a really interesting character.

To me Hanna is the first quiet sleeper hit of the year. The fine performances and amazing fight sequences are all complemented by one of the best soundtracks lately. The music is done by The Chemical Brothers and they make every scene that much more fun to watch, and especially so during the action scenes. Director Wright has turned a basic CIA story with a few mysteries into something that is fun, intriguing and different than other spy/assassin films.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual material and language. But it’s almost tame compared to other action films.
Clark
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