I thoroughly enjoy watching “Hanna”. It is a heartwarming revelation of a teenage girl and how she sets out to find answers. Hanna is brought up by her father in the forest, in the arctic region. She is trained to hunt and defend herself from the dangers of what’s to come. I may not be wrong to say that, she is trained almost like a warrior. She believes she is ready to face the world and with a deliberate flip of a switch, Hanna invites misery into her life with open arms. Hanna and her dad Erik split up with the hopes of reuniting with each other in Berlin. Once Erik Leaves, the house is taken down by the CIA and the girl is captured and taken into custody. Whilst being questioned by the authorities, Hanna puts her training into use, and breaks out killing anyone in the way. For a teenage girl, she sure is a tyrant. Once out of the compound she meets with an ordinary family and tags along with them with the hopes of freedom and reuniting with her father. Hanna who has not seen the real world all her life is moved by how things are in the world until she realizes not all people can be trust worthy.
Saoirse Ronan is fabulous in her portrayal. I first watched her work in the movie “City of Ember” and if I may compare, the characters she play in both are so wide apart but yet she does it so well. This brings into light her adaptive qualities and her versatile talent. Eric Bana on the other hand, with his very limited screen time, is very decent. This movie was not written for Eric Bana to sparkle; in fact he may even pass as a cameo. For an actor of his degree he needs to be more careful about the projects he chooses to work with. Cate Blanchett is callous, unsympathetic and she is determined to bring her character to the most convincing levels of performance. She is my favorite in this one I have to say. At the risk of the oxymoron she is unbelievably real!
A star cast, a great script and Joe Wright is a talented man with his directorial. Why does he bring unrequired gimmicks into this picture? The CIA take down in the forest, what was the soundtrack that is used? Why is he trying to make it seem like Hanna was tanked up on cocaine and that the CIA was taking down a drug house! What makes it worse is the fact that, Joe Wright does not give it up! He keeps on bombarding me with these so called special effects, which was downright unnecessary. It sapped out quite a lot of the emotional attachment that kept building within the movie. It’s as if the director is deliberately trying to sabotage the movie! Soundtracks, swirling screens, thumbs down Joe Wright! Thumbs Down! I feel like I was watching “XXX” from 2002 and Vin Diesel would pop out of the screen, or that Johnny Depp would appear doing coke like in “Blow”. I am sure he has his reasons.
Despite the “10 ways to not to use effects” , “Hanna” is a moving story that would appeal to the more mature audiences! Give it a go, you may love it!
Title: Hanna
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett & Eric Bana
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual material and language
Rating: 06/10
111 Minutes