When I first saw the trailer for this film I thought it looked good. But as the release date got closer, the trailers got longer, and well, let’s just say the mystery seemed to be fading.
When I first saw the trailer for Hanna I thought it looked good. But as the release date got closer, the trailers got longer, and well, let’s just say the mystery seemed to be fading. It had one of those trailers that seems to tell you the whole film in about two minutes. You gotta leave us something, trailer editors. It’s not supposed to be a short film!
But who’s to say if it’s the editors fault. Maybe the execs thought no one would understand the film unless they spelled it out for us. Guys in suits never get it. They understand so much less than the audiences, even the ones in po-dunk middle-of-nowhere America. C’mon guys, at least give SOME of us credit for having more brains and common sense than you.
Hanna is the 16 year old daughter of a government agent father. He trains her to be the perfect assassin, which comes in handy when she becomes the target of a chase across Europe by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.
Saoirse Ronen plays Hanna rather deftly. Eric Bana plays her father and he does a fine job as well. Not sure if that’s because he isn’t a primary character or not, but you can decide. Cate Blanchett plays Marissa, the agent that is hunting Hanna down. Frankly, I’ll watch Blanchett paint her nails. I think she’s pretty awesome. Although, I do wonder why they had her do a subtle southern accent. Why couldn’t she just be British? Whatever. It’s a minor issue.
Most of the trailer is about the action parts. What you only get a taste of is the bulk of the middle of the film where Hanna is on her own and trying to adapt to life in the world. She knows about it from books, but has never experienced it first hand. Some of that is kind of amusing and some of it is kind of touching. But none of it is in the extreme. And none of it delves too deep. It’s not really the focus of the film.
The focus is on the chase. And much of it is pretty cool. This is a good example of how music adds to the action. The Chemical Brothers wrote the score to this and it has quite the punch. The music builds and really ramps up when Hanna is on the move or during the action sequences. It’s sort of the way the music aided in Run Lola Run; high energy electronic music that gets the adrenaline going. It’s quite effective.
Eventually we discover a secret or two along the away that makes things a bit more interesting. But, ultimately this film is only ok at what it does. It’s certainly competent, but it doesn’t break new ground in the thriller genre, despite its’ capable director, Joe Wright (Atonement), and worthy cast. It just does what it’s supposed to do and not much more.
Hanna is not a bad film, it just isn’t a great one. I liked it, though, enough to give it 3 kittenhands. It’s a good matinee movie or certainly a worth-while rental. It should tide you over until some of the big movies come out in a few short weeks.
Gee, I feel like there should be more to this review, but when the movie doesn’t offer you a lot extra in the way of awesomeness, there isn’t much to write about. No sense blathering on endlessly about barely above average, is there?
~ Neil T. Weakley, your average movie-goer, kind of non-plussed by this. It’s part of the great glut of just “OK” films.
