Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011): USA

Review by Tim Lopez. Viewed in Santa Barbara.

Joe Wright’s fourth feature film is his most unrestrained to date, and a big improvement upon his previous film, The Soloist. Boasting impressive cinematography and an excellent cast, Hanna is one of this Spring’s most undeniably entertaining action movies.

Erik, a former CIA agent with a brooding past, has been in hiding from his former employer since a failed assassination attempt on him and his young daughter eight years earlier. He has spent this time in the wilderness training his daughter Hanna everything he had been taught in anticipation that she could be in danger if her identity and location were ever to be found. Once he feels she is ready, he leaves the decision up to her whether or not to alert the government of her whereabouts. Hanna chooses to do so and it is from this point that the plot unfolds.  Trotting through Europe, Hanna discovers a past her father never thought to share. Although a brilliantly trained assassin, Hanna finds disappointment and confusion in these new found truths revealing an innocence she shares with Johanna, a young girl she meets along the way.  While making her way across different borders to meet her father in Germany, Hannah is able to channel her feelings and teach herself about a world she never knew existed.

With beautiful and at times dizzying cinematography, Hanna is by far one of the more uniquely crafted action films in recent memory. To say the least, Joe Wright’s visual portrayal of this revenge flick is what drives the film forward. A visual portrayal that gets a lot of help from the head-pounding music score that accompanies many of the film’s best action sequences. For those of you who have not seen it, one particular action scene to keep an eye out for is the steadicam sequence in the shipping yard.

No credit, however, is to be taken away from good performances all down the board. The two female leads, 17 year old Saoirse Ronan and accomplished star Cate Blanchett, put the film on their shoulders and run away with it. Ronan seems far beyond her years as an actress and plays the role of Hanna with integrity while maintaining a sense of adolescence. Blanchett enters new territory in acting as she takes on the role of the villainous Marissa. Her performance is haunting and most importantly, very believable. These performances, along with the surrounding cast, drive forward an occasionally confusing plot and allow for Hanna to stand on it’s own amongst a season full of highly anticipated movies.

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Published:
05.03.11 / 4pm
Category:
Films