Action-thriller about a 14-year-old (The Lovely Bones' Saorise Ronan), raised by her father to be a cold-hearted killing machine. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice).
Hanna (Ronan) is no regular teenage girl: she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider. These come from being raised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Cate Blanchett).
Of the (too) many things Hanna undoubedly is – action yarn, travelogue, coming-of-age drama – it feels most like a music video homaging Besson (Leon, The Fifth Element) and Bowie (The Man Who Fell To Earth).
As a Chemical Brothers score thumps and skitters, Atonement director Joe Wright juxtaposes Saoirse Ronan’s china-white face against a kaleidoscope of ever-changing industrial and exotic backdrops, with choppy editing, fairytale symbolism and miscast actors all thrown into the mix.
Like Natalie Portman in Leon, Hanna (Ronan) is a pint-sized assassin who’s capable at killing but clueless in the ways of the world. Leaving her dad/trainer (Bana playing, we think, Scandinavian) behind in the Arctic, she heads off round Europe to avenge her mother’s death, encountering Blanchett’s evil operative (Deep South), Hollander’s camp killer (German) and all manner of dwarves, henchmen and heinous accents along the way.
As the heightened imagery reminds us, Hanna is an Alice adrift in her own violent Wonderland, but Wright fails to establish a base reality for the film, which flits and flickers nonsensically past – a patchwork of flashy moments, none of which quite stitch together. The fight scenes, though few and far between, are excellent, particularly Bana’s U-Bahn smackdown that takes place in one impossible Matrix-y take, but most of the time Wright simply throws everything he can think of at the screen like the promo director he used to be. Great soundtrack, though.
By Matt Glasby, Flicks.co.nz
It's an enjoyable child assassin flick. the filming is interesting bordering on brilliant. The locations are quirky, interesting and well scouted, providing an alternate view of well known places. The movie in many ways is not stereotypical except for Cate Blanchett whose character who stereotypical and strangely out of place. An enjoyable flick though. Especially for the way the camera has been used.
I rarely go to cinemas but went to see this one when it came out after reading some positive reviews. I wanted to leave the theater after the first 15 min, utterly annoying and absolutely rubbish. No plot, no acting, no character, no dialogue, and worse of all - horrible score (music). What they were thinking? Nothing make sense! Avoid.
Saorise Ronan was fantastic in director Joe Wright's Atonement, but this re-teaming of the pair just doesn't make the grade. It fails to be a brilliant "young assassin" movie (a la Luc Besson's LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL). It also fails to be a moody, arty contemplation on violence, much as THE AMERICAN recently failed. Aiming for something like the cold, cool feel of say LET THE RIGHT ONE IN or Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Hanna just ends up being dull, slow and frankly - a bit silly. Funny how thin that line is between pretentious crap and stunning cinematic statement... or between great entertainment and watching paint dry... One star for the Chemical Brothers soundtrack and for the always superb Kate Blanchette.
This movie was warmly recommended by the Video Ezy store person, but it turned out to be horribly disappointing. The background music is particularly distracting and it sounded like it came straight out the 70's. The plot was actually okay, but ran far too long and was very slow moving. Despite this, Saoirse Ronan's acting was brilliant.
whil;st Cate Blanchett doesn't really extend herself beyond a sort of bond-villiany ham bad guy, the movie is smoothly paced and there is always danger in your periphery. best seen in a theatre with a couch to sit on, or on your own couch at home. you'll want a hot choc to sip early on too.
Superficially exciting and handled with great aplomb. But the film is running to go nowhere.
Here we have an odd cross between a fairy tale and a high-tech action movie. It could have been a fairly strained attempt at either, but director Joe Wright ("Atonement") combines his two genres into a stylish exercise that perversely includes some sentiment and insight.
An absurd-sounding concept rendered wholly believable and thrilling by a fearless young actress and a director at the top of his game.
The overall enterprise, for all its intrigue and visceral impact, feels overly thought out, affected and forced in its stylization.
Blessed with considerable virtues, including a clever concept, crackling filmmaking and a charismatic star, it ultimately squanders all of them, undone by an unfortunate lack of subtlety and restraint.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 1st Sep 2011.
Release date: September 1st 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
