Hanna - Movie Review

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a girl who lives in the wintery forests of Finland with her father, Erik Heller (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, who trained her to be a perfect soldier - strong, quick, fearless and deadly with or without firearms. All her training is to prepare her for one sole mission: kill Marisa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a ruthless intelligence operative, who will stop at nothing until Hanna and Erik are dead. A flip of switch calls Wiegler to them; however, unbeknownst to Hanna, she kills an imposter posing as Wiegler. As Hanna journeys across Europe to meet up with Erik, and with Wiegler and her operatives closing in, she uncovers secrets about her existence that lead her to question her own humanity which no amount of training could ever prepare her for.

Hanna is an intense movie with a lot of action but also has its tender moments. I was, however, slightly disappointed at what I thought would be a twist ending but instead the movie ended very predictably.
Cate Blanchett was brilliant as usual but her southern accent atrocious and tended to phase in and out. Her character needed more work as Wiegler was very one-dimensional; she wanted nothing more than the deaths of Hanna and Erik but you never really find out why. You get bits and pieces of the puzzle through flashbacks but never a clear motive. I find it hard to believe that it was only because of her job that drove Wiegler so hard to exterminate Erik and Hanna; she must have some personal grudge or secret that causes that kind of desperate dedication.

Saoirse Ronan also did a wonderful job as Hanna. She is so wonderfully innocent with a childlike fascination to everything. There are only a few moments in the movie that Hanna could be a child she is and these should be cherished as the pace picks up again very quickly. The score, by The Chemical Brothers, however funky, seemed to beautifully fit the movie. It reflects both Hanna's innocence and her deadly abilities. Nothing seems to be able to stop Hanna and Ronan does an amazing job with all the fight sequences - they were all believable and real.

Overall Hanna is a very enjoyable, interesting and beautifully shot movie but could have used much more character development and clearer motives. It is a good movie but could have been amazing. Still, I would recommend seeing it in theatres.

Hanna opens in theatres tomorrow, Friday April 8th, 2011.