Hanna

In this mystery action flick, we see a girl of about 16 named Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is raised by her father Erik ( Eric Bana) in the frozen forest to be a perfect assassin. When she decides she is ready, she and her father enact a plan tailored all of Hanna’s life to kill the woman who killed Hanna’s mother. When Hanna kills a woman she believes to be the killer, Marissa( Cate Blanchett) she treks across Africa and Europe to meet with her father one step away from Marissa and some very scary people as she tries to solve the secrets of her mysterious past.

This film is directed by Joe Wright, the same director of Atonement, Pride and Prejudice, and The Soloist. At first glance, this violent action film seems like a vast departure from the heavy dramas he had made in the past. However, Hanna fits into Wright’s repertoire much better than expected, and that is why I am still not sure if I liked it or not. Yes this film has the intricate action scenes and suspenseful chase scenes expected from the previews, but the true focus of this film is on a girl exploring her sense of self and identity. She is not just trying to discover her past, but who she is as a person and how she connects to others. She has spent her whole life without a personal identity outside of her mission. When she believes she has accomplished that mission, she is faced with herself as a girl who is both self-sufficient and helpless as a baby.

I went into this film thinking I was going to see a fast-paced action film similar to The Bourne Identity. Instead, what I got was kinda weird. The action scenes are juxtaposed between scenes from a European coming-of-age film. The villains in this film are also strange. A pitiless southern woman with a hidden agenda. A whistling, German, fetish strip-club owner with severe sociopath tendencies and his two cronies. These are the adversaries that Hanna and her father must evade and ultimately confront. When you add the action, self exploration, mystery, and odd villains the film just feels mismatched and forced together. The mystery is not completely solved also and there are still lots of questions left when the film is over. I think there are some great pieces here and if the film had focused on the action, mystery, or coming-of-age aspects there could have been a really good film here. Instead it’s just weird.

My opinion in a nutshell:

Entertainment: 5- This film promises a lot and doesn’t really deliver. The cast is fantastic and the acting is quite good. The action scenes are well done, but are few and don’t seem to fit with the rest of the film. The mystery is well set, but does not answer all questions. The self-exploration is sympathetic, but interferes with the flow of the film and also does not reach a conclusion.

Award-worthy: 2- This is an award-winning director, but this is not his best work.