At the Top of the Circus

Hanna (2011, Joe Wright) - Movie Review

This is a personal opinion and is not meant to be viewed professionally. I am a film student, and do not claim to be an expert.

Hanna is a wonderful example of an action-thriller gone right. Its bright colors, unusual camera angles, excellent writing and casting, and (of course) superb soundtrack all melt together into one great big, constantly moving carnival of a film.

Continue at risk of spoilers.

The Positive:

The movie opens on soft, white landscape. A young girl clad in furs and carrying weapons can be seen hiding in the trees. She fires an arrow into the chest of a mammoth deer, and silently follows it until it collapses in the snow. She takes out her gun, calmly states that she missed its heart, and— without blinking an eye— shoots it in the head.

This is not an opening scene you’d get in your average run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, or even the usual hollywood thriller.

This kind of opening scene is the reason I still watch action movies, even though a good 2/3 of them are crap.

Saoirse Ronan plays Hanna Hellner, a sixteen year-old girl living with her father, Erik (Eric Bana), in the wilderness of Finland. He has been ruthlessly training her throughout her entire life for one purpose— to kill the woman (Cate Blanchett) who murdered Hanna’s mother. When Hanna insists that she is ready, a choice is given to her in the form of an old transmitter box. Flip a switch, and her mission will find her. Leave it untouched, continue living the simple and happy life with her father.

She flips the switch.

The rest of the movie is a blur of fast-paced action sequences, with the occasional break for Hanna’s first experiences with the modern world. These experiences vary from something as simple as feeling the wind in her face while leaning out of a car window, to the terrifying discovery of the abundance of loud modern technology. She makes her first friend, has her first kiss, and all of the other cliche coming-of-age rubbish that you see in every other movie, with two definite distinctions:

1. It is absolutely wonderful. 
2. She is being stalked by a ruthless killer (Tom Hollander) with a knack for whistling who will murder anyone who helps her.

As far as the technical side of the movie goes, it couldn’t be better. The editing is brisk and cleanly cut, the cinematography beautifully shows beautiful sets, and the direction is totally involved. The actors are all in top form. It is genuinely exciting to see Eric Bana in a really good role, something I haven’t seen since Black Hawk Down. He puts a lot of effort into the role, and it definitely pays off. Hanna is a bright, quick, intelligent, powerful young woman, and is a superb character to watch. This is helped greatly by the fact that Saoirse Ronan puts a lot of work into her. When I say they put a lot of work in, I mean it literally. The fight scenes were expertly and gracefully done, without any of the overly showy flare so often used in this genre of film.

I won’t go into any more detail on the story, but I will say that the movie ends as it begins:

with a bang.

The Negative:

The only real problem with this film is the undeniable fact that at this point the super-child genre has been a little overworked. You’ve got your basic corrupt intelligence works, your wronged parents, your wasteland-raised muscular hero (in this case heroine) that sets out to find revenge for their fallen friend/family member. That is essentially what this movie is. What separates it from the cliche it is born from is the writing, direction, and acting.

I highly recommend this film (and check out the soundtrack done by The Chemical Brothers).

I give Joe Wright’s Hanna an 8 out of 10.