Review of Hanna (2011) by Jonathan B — 12 Oct 2014

This is a stylish and entertaining thriller that despite having some rather gaping flaws and inadequacies is definitely worth a look. In a nutshell the story is a former US secret agent raises his daughter in secret to be a killer.

Father and daughter set out across Europe pursued by an evil Cate Blanchett and her gay hit man colleague together with his two skinhead bovver boys. What's not to like? A violent tale, the story does leave a few too many unanswered questions and unresolved plot details to be wholly successful yet, at times, it is a taught and exciting spin on the spy/conspiracy movie genre.

I really rate Cate Blanchett as an actress and she's great in this film playing as she does a heartless and ruthless assassin. I wanted to understand her relationship to Hanna's father (Eric Bana) and the reason that she is so determined to kill the girl a little better.

This, I feel, was a wasted opportunity to give the plot some complexity and depth. Saoirse Rona takes the role of the eponymous Hanna and is extremely watchable. She manages to combine just the right amount of vulnerability and naivety to make her character more than just a cold hearted killing machine.

You really feel she is being manipulated by external forces which she can neither understand nor control. However, this card is played a little too often and loses some of its impact later in the movie.

A shame as with a little more explanation in the plot, a few more of the poignant human interest scenes and a clearer backstory this would have been a wholly satisfying fantasy thriller movie rather than a decent post pub TV film.