Hanna (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date:  8 April 2011 (USA)   Runtime: 111 min

Genres: Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller
Filming Locations: Bad Tölz, Bavaria, Germany

Taglines: Adapt or Die

A 16-year-old who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.

Director:  Joe Wright

Writers:   Seth Lochhead , David Farr

Original Music by Tom Rowlands &  Ed Simons

Cinematography by Alwin H. Kuchler

STORYLINE

Hanna (Ronan) is a teenage girl. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a soldier; these come from being raised by her father (Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; 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 (Ms. Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

MAIN CASTS

Saoirse Ronan , Eric Bana , Cate Blanchett , Tom Hollander ,Paris Arrowsmith,   Olivia Williams ,Jason Flemyng , John MacMillan , Tim Beckmann , Vicky Krieps , Christian Malcolm , Jamie Beamish ,Tom Hodgkins , Vincent Montuel , Nathan Nolan

Box Office

Budget:  $30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:  $12,370,549 (USA) (10 April 2011) (2535 Screens)

Gross:  $57,670,856 (Worldwide) (4 July 2011) 

Production Co:  Focus Features, Holleran Company, Studio Babelsberg 

SYNOPSIS

Hanna Heller (Saoirse Ronan) is a 16-year-old girl who lives with her father, Erik Heller (Eric Bana) in the wilderness of Finland. Ever since she was born, Hanna has been trained by Erik to become an assassin. As part of her training, she has never come into contact with modern technology and has memorized a series of fake back stories for herself to be used when the time comes.

One night, Hanna approaches Erik and tells him that she is "ready", and he retrieves a box containing an old transmitter, which he gives to her. After analyzing the situation, Hanna flips the switch, sending a signal of her location to Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a corrupt CIA agent. Marissa sends a team to Erik's cabin, where Hanna, who had been waiting for them, is captured and taken to a CIA safe house in Morocco. There, she discovers that Erik is a former CIA agent who betrayed the agency and knows a secret that can't become public. Marissa has been assigned to kill him, but Hanna has been trained to kill Marissa by Erik. Knowing that Hanna was captured too easily, Marissa sends a body double (Michelle Dockery) to speak with Hanna. Hanna kills the false Marissa, breaks free and escapes the compound.

REVIEW

A friend got me tickets to an advance screening, telling me it was a spy thriller with Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett. I hadn't seen a trailer and was expecting something along the lines of Mission Impossible. Was I wrong.

I'm not great at doing reviews, but I feel I need to say something about this amazing movie! During it, I was very aware at how engrossed I was, hanging on every scene. It was visually stunning - some of the scenes or transitions between them were so beautiful. The title "HANNA" on the screen reminded me a lot of Kill Bill. In fact, I felt Saoirse Ronan's Hanna is a teenage version of The Bride from Kill Bill and Leeloo from The Fifth Element.

I've seen Cate Blanchett in a couple of movies, but was impressed by her portrayal of a ruthless agent. I hate to say that Eric Bana's character (Erik) was "almost" forgettable - in the end, the movie was really not about him. But he did show up once wet and without much clothing and that was just fine by me.

I am not a fan of violence (and Tarantino's bugs me a lot), but I was OK with the quantity and visibility of it in this movie. Fans of Kill Bill should enjoy Hanna.