Review of Hanna (2011) by Clk89 — 08 Dec 2011

Adapt or Die. This is the training motto of 14-year-old Hanna's father who is preparing his daughter for the world beyond the rustic cabin walls in North Finland. Young, sweet, innocent, yet deadly Hanna has only ever known her father, Erik and the training and killing methods he has taught her for 14 years.

In this well-done film, the motive of the characters and underlying themes leave you wondering what the social norm will eventually become. Hanna is taught that you must adapt to a situation or you will die.

Hanna is not just a child prodigy, but a prodigy from a careful experimentation initiated by the CIA. During the movie, Hanna learns that her mother was a recruited pregnant woman from an abortion clinic for a special CIA project that was later pronounced to be a failure.

All remnant and proof of the project must be eliminated. Hanna and her father, Erik do all they can to escape the traps of the CIA, specifically from the leader of the project, Marisa. Hanna's story is a story about a child's innocence that is lost and has been molded by the people who claimed to protect her.

The movie, Hanna asks some important moral questions: Is it okay to genetically modify human DNA? Or to treat people as experiments, rather than human beings? Maybe we should take a step back and actually look at the character of Hanna.

Hanna's innocence was destroyed because humans believed they could become the authors and creators of life. As a human race, manipulating the very form of life can be dangerous. We have been called to live life, not to influence and change what has already been created.

As I watched Hanna I couldn't help but think about my own 14 year old sister who has grown up with her innocence and freedom to live life. Tampering with life that is not ours to tamper with crosses over the line of what is morally and ethically right.

Hanna knew nothing different from killing, adapt or die, but was that fair? This excellent, yet tension-filled film is a must watch that will make you think critically about life issues that lie deeper than a CIA mystery.