Review of Hanna (2011) by Kof-Drop — 21 Sep 2012

I expected much less than I got from this film. It's not the greatest, but there is an artistic aspect to it that makes it much more interesting than the average Hollywood action flick.

The morose and confused nature of the film is what makes it intriguing to me. The colors are not so dark that they scream The Dark Knight, but lacking sufficiently in vibrance. The sound pulsates not so much with fear as with urgency, and a bit of chaos. The characters are deep enough that we get a sense of their history, full of conflict, but a good deal is left to the imagination. This is an action movie devoted to discovering oneself through one's actions. Toss Hanna into a world so much different than her own, and who will she become? That is the heart of this story.

There are a plethora of plot holes that I could exploit, but I won't because it would be a waste of time. The holes are obvious. If there is a significant flaw to this film, it is the plot - quite a bit of it is unrealistic. But the cinematography and the overall sound (including both music and sound editing) are top-notch. The title flashes at the start and end of the film scream Quentin Tarantino, particularly Kill Bill. The entire crew is obviously very talented, but the plot, as I said, is shaky.

The Chemical Brothers wrote the soundtrack, and I think it's brilliant. Rather than matching on-screen tension with the sonic tension of an orchestra, or loud, thrashing rock music, as most action movies would do, this one supplies a frantic yet beautiful electronic backdrop. The music is very thorough and well-orchestrated, not your run-of-the-mill dance party material. In place of in-your-face badassery, the Chemical Brothers actually manage to tap into the emotions of the characters to provide more suspense, focusing less on how cool the action is and more on what matters.

This is certainly worth the watch if you can get it for free and don't have any top-notch films available to you. It is a different experience from the norm, and even if you don't particularly like it, at the least you will not be bored. Some reviewers claim that Hanna is an underrated masterpiece. I agree with underrated, but not so strongly with masterpiece.

For more reviews, see my blog at kofdrops.blogspot.com.