Hanna

"Hanna"
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander

Directed by: Joe Wright

111 minutes

2011/USA

We're introduced to the titular character Hanna while she's hunting in a wintry locale. She stalks her prey with the keenness of a trained solider. As she looks over a dear that she has struck with an arrow, she says to it" I just missed your heart." We quickly learn that Hanna and her father Erik, played by Eric Bana are living a secluded life out in the wild. Hanna, as it seems, has been training all her life for something, a goal and mission that is at once offered up and hidden from the audience. 

Few recent globe-trotting thrillers have had the pulse and artistic exuberance that Hanna possesses. The film consistently defies expectations, as demonstrated by the rapidly paced first act. It's never easy to get your bearings with this one, an off-balance and deftly fresh take on the genre. Director Joe Wright, most known for his skillful precision on films like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, shows resilience working out of his normal comfort zone. Here, Wright is forcing his newly acquired visually assaulting style of filmmaking onto the audience, and it mostly works. 

The film graciously balances the aspects of a thriller against Wright's artistic flourishes. This combination serves up a different style and a frenzied juxtaposition of action/adventure with a coming of age fairy tale. The motivations of Erik passed forth to Hanna are what drives the otherwise passive narrative. Their sights are set on Marissa, played by Cate Blanchett, who is clearly having fun as a cold intelligence agent. Blanchett is somehow never on autopilot here, portraying Marissa as an icy bitch with a big secret. She weaves in and out of the story, but dispatches a few less than menacing assassins to track down Hanna. The most notable is Issacs, played by Tom Hollander, mysteriously flamboyant in nature. 

At times, we conclude that we've been on this journey before, but with the young Ronan as our catalyst, we're reminded of how dynamic she can be. The film's exotic background, coupled with the confident direction from Wright, makes Hanna one of the most worthwhile things that have been released this year. There's also that catchy score by the Chemical Brothers, that'll have you tapping your feet to throughout the film. The coupling of the young Saoirse Ronan with Joe Wright is a formula that works. After two efforts together, this could become a collaboration that lasts for a while. 

Grade: 3.5/5