Hanna

Overview

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is just your typical 15 year-old girl. She Lives in a remote hut in Finland with her ex-CIA father (Eric Bana), speaks half a dozen languages, is proficient in martial arts and can shoot the wings off a fly from fifty yards. So she's typical in the way any girl might be — assuming that girl has been raised from birth to be an assassin. It seems a questionable approach to home schooling until you learn that both Hanna and her father have been marked for death by corrupt CIA agent and oral-hygiene-fetishist Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchett), resulting in a nasty case of kill or be killed.

Directed by Joe Wright, Hanna is a tense and often violent thriller that marks a solid departure from his last three films (The Soloist, Atonement and Pride and Prejudice). It's a dark, gritty and largely soulless picture that closely mirrors both the characters and the bleak European locations within it. Ronan absolutely shines in the lead, with the juxtaposition of her ethereal beauty and remorseless killing resulting in some moments of exhilarating action and unexpected comedy. Much like Chloë Moretz’s character Hit Girl from Kick Ass, Hanna kills quickly and she kills often, but she does so without the same sense of joy. Killing is instead pure necessity, with her father constantly reminding her to “adapt or die”. It's a film where you see a young girl cornered in a dark alley by a group of heavily armed men, and you feel genuinely nervous for the men.

All the music for Hanna was provided by dance duo The Chemical Brothers, doubtless inspired by the success of Daft Punk’s brilliant original score from last year’s Tron, and at times it gives the movie an almost music video feel — especially during one of the key chase sequences. While the film ultimately lags towards the end due to an unnecessary plot twist, its sleek action scenes and solid performances make it definitely one worth catching if you can.