Review of Hanna (2011) by Jessetaylor25 — 08 Apr 2011

Joe Wright redeems himself from his last feature, "The Soloist", which was a massive disappointment, and whips out this electric action thriller. The reaction that I've noticed about this film so far has been either you love it or you hate it. I can see why people dislike this movie, but I guess I just fall on the other side of the spectrum. I loved this movie and I feel like I will go see it in theaters again. As a revenge film, what "Hanna" gives us (unlike films like last year's "Salt") is a pretty simple plot. Its simplicity is why I think some people's reactions to it may seem a little sour. People may be expecting some intricate story, but if you go in expecting that, I think you may be a little disappointed. Nothing in regard to Hanna's past is explained fully and some characters Hanna encounters just seem to disappear, but this is unimportant in terms of the film's outcome and basic premise. Saoirse Ronan is magnificent as the titular character and I love how she's blossoming as an actress from her breakout role in Joe Wright's last great film, "Atonement". What I loved about this movie the most, however, is both Cate Blanchett's amazing portrayal of the film's villain (shocking, I know) and the film's score by The Chemical Brothers. The electronic music that makes up the score really propels the film and provides a great contrast between the serenity of Hanna's discovery of a new world and the fantastic action sequences. I like it even more than Daft Punk's score to last year's "Tron: Legacy" and that was one of my favourite scores of 2010.

A lot of wacky characters and wild, yet silly situations provides some needed humour to this film and it all blends together to make an exciting and fun film that still proves to be a lot deeper than most fluffy action films nowadays. Definitely go see this in theaters. I'll be going again for sure.