Hanna

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Barden, Olivia Williams, Aldo Maland and more…

Directed by: Joe Wright  Screenplay by: Seth Lochhead and David Farr Story by: Seth Lochhead Music by: The Chemical Brothers

Premise: Hanna has been raised for only one purpose – to kill the woman who is responsible for her mother’s death. Things, however, don’t go as planned, and Hanna becomes the hunted instead of the hunter.

Review: The commercials gave alot away. The premise is simple, so to be honest, there wasn’t much to give away. However, the execution of the simple premise goes pretty well.

At first we get to live like Hanna lives – the training, living off the land, education. Then when she gets out in the world it’s a lot of fun to see her soak life in and meet civilization head on. Just when she thinks she has it all in hand, she realizes she’s out of her element and not always dealing too well. Some well thought out moments. Others were quite funny! Her time with the traveling family was the best of the film.

Action wise, not shabby at all. Some very well coordianted fight scenes. Be prepared for several flashbacks, one which unecessarilly decided to go shaky cam. Luckily the shaky cam action used here and there never lasts for more than a minute or two, so it’s not hard to sit through.

Some gorgeous panoramic shots. Though on one of them they got a little carried away with the panning. There are also several foreign locations that gave it some definite flavor. Even better, it was street life, rather than the usual dolled up city blocks we normally get.There are also some very artful type shots, most quite enjoyable.

The one major notpick would be Hanna’s time in the dessert. Having been raised way way up north, she wouldn’t have had exposure to such a climate. And with her super light skin. Can you say crispy criter in just a few hours? OUCH!

Saoirse Ronan does a great job.  Cate Blanchett definitely comes across as one evil person. Tom Hollander was totally creepy and disturbing though he didn’t do much directly. But his walk, his talk, his whistling – ugh. Nicely done. Jessica Barden and her on screen brother, Aldo Maland added a lot to the film – good job guys!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby is out of town so no rating from him this time. The kids liked it.)