Hanna review
They really don’t make them too much like this anymore. Imagine Jason Bourne as a 16 year old girl in a 1997 film directed by Danny Boyle and you’re getting close to how weird and wonderful this movie is. To say there’s nothing like it would be an overstatement as it definitely bears some resemblance to Luc Besson’s “The Professional,” (where Natalie Portman got her start as a pre-teen assassin in training), but in reality there is nothing else like it today. The film was directed by Joe Wright, the filmmaker responsible for “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement” and it’s an exciting change of pace for him. It’s a thrill watching Wright adapt his style onto a completely different type of film while still retaining his trademarks: a great cast, some really impressive long tracking shots.
Saoirse Ronan (from “Atonement” and “The Lovely Bones”) stars as the 16 year old Hanna, who has spent her entire life being raised by her father Erik (Eric Bana) to be the perfect assassin. As he realizes she’s going to want to leave home someday he allows her to make the choice on when she leaves the nest, but warns her that once she does there’s no turning back. The reason there is no turning back is Marissa, (a ruthless Cate Blanchett), a CIA operative looking to cover up their existence for mysterious reasons that aren’t revealed until later on. Yes, the performances are over-the-top but the whole film is meant to be kind of a fairy tale with Blanchett standing in for the Wicked Witch.
It’s an action film and an art film, a fairy tale and an on-the-run chase film. The reason “Hanna” is really so exciting is because it reminded me of the left of center, genre-bending films in the 90s. When non-action directors like Luc Besson, Steven Soderbergh and Danny Boyle first made their steps into genre filmmaking the results were thrilling. Even the electronic (and loud) score by The Chemical Brothers seems to harken back to that period. It’s thrilling because it invests you in character and because it doesn’t feel like anything else today. This was probably my favorite film so far this year.
