Review of Hanna (2011) by Tyler W — 30 May 2012

Going into "Hanna", I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had seen the trailers, but didn't really remember them. All I knew was it was an action flick about a girl who for some reason is being chased by the Government. And it turns out, that's about all the motivation for the plot you're going to get when you watch "Hanna".

Hanna is a teenage girl who's been raised by her father in the woods of Finland. She's spent her whole life living like an Inuit; hunting for her own food, making clothes out of pelts, and living in a wood shack. Her father, Erik Heller, has been training Hanna her whole life for the day when they would try to escape back into society. Hanna decides that that day has finally come, and thus starts the real movie. I say real movie loosely because I enjoyed the beginning of Hanna more than I did the rest of it.

Hanna runs across Europe trying to get to Berlin to meet up with her father. Along the way, she tags along with a travelling family from England, and Hanna connects with their teenage daughter, Sophie. I really enjoyed this part of the film because it's a way to show how new everything in the world seems to Hanna, and in that it's very effective. There's a hilarious seen where a guy goes to kiss her and she kung-Fu flips him onto his back. Stuff like this are the things I loved about this movie.

Now the rest of the film, with the spies and the espionage is boring. Cate Blanchett plays Marissa, the main spy chasing Hanna and her father. I hated her character. She has this annoying southern accent, she's really not threatening at all, and overall she's a villain you really don't care about.

Now, Saoirse Ronan, on the other hand, as Hanna, was stellar. I thought she did a fantastic job. I believed her character completely and I loved how Hanna was developed. I really saw a strong resemblance to Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games". For one, they both hunt with a bow and arrow. That just already connected them. Both characters are from very low standards of life. And both characters, by choice, leave the comforts of their home to go to this new world that they have no knowledge about, and the whole time it's a pleasure to watch them discover things about these worlds. Another thing both characters have going for them is how the actresses who played these roles were able to pull off a double-sided character. They were able to play both the charming teenage girl side and the bad-ass killer side. And when an actress is able to do that, she is incredible in my books. Just a funny little connection I saw.

Eric Bana is supposed to be the main star-power in this film, but he doesn't get enough screen time. At least, not for his character to develop. He has two action sequences, and in both of them I couldn't help but make some type of verbalization like "Ooh", or "Damn! That must have hurt". That's one thing I did enjoy about "Hanna" was the action sequences. When they do happen, it's awesome. My only gripe with them is they end too quickly. There's one action scene that I think filled out its whole potential, while the rest leave you wishing for something more.

Overall, I thought "Hanna" was a good film, but honestly it just wasn't for me. I'm not denying that "Ya, this is a good film", I mean it's directed well, the writing is good, the acting is good, but I just didn't like the final package it was all delivered in. It felt like the script needed another working before going into production. I can easily understand why someone would love this film, but it just wasn't what I wanted or was hoping for. I say check it out, but you're either going to love "Hanna", or be disappointed.