Hanna Movie Blurb by Shale April 11, 2011 Well, I’m in St. Charles, Missouri and found a free moment and the local theater so I saw a matinee of this flick that started last Friday. I liked what I saw in the trailers and with Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and an intriguing new actress Saoirse Ronan (who turns 17 tomorrow) it was the first choice. On the aggregate reviews at Rottentomatoes, 71% of critics liked it and 82% of audiences did. It was OK, but I was not bowled over by it. There were spots that dragged and at least one dangling side story that was left inconclusive (and we can only suspect a brutal outcome). The story opens in the Arctic with Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) doing a good job of survival and taking down a caribou with a bow. Hanna Gettin’ Supper She is being mentored by her father Erik (Eric Bana) an off-the-grid black ops agent in this wilderness, … Dad & Hanna … preparing her for a confrontation with Marisa (Cate Blanchett) another rogue operative of similar history. Marisa (U Know She Bad) From this wilderness Hana is picked up after sending out an old signal her father had that alerts Marisa that he is still alive. Hana is in their possession but proves her prowess and training by killing agents in a sealed holding room and escaping. From there the hunt is on, with all sorts of unsavory characters coming into play and Hanna eluding them in one attempt after another. Hanna in Survival Mode It was a good PG-13 action flick, an entertaining matinee but could have been better put together. It sometimes reminded me of an Indie flick or a good TV show.
I agree. The movie was entertaining but it left a lot on the table. The story was underdeveloped, especially in the DNA supersoldier manipulation area. They took a subject that could have been really awesome and went for the mainstream audience by making it an action movie with a female protagonist.
If you guys saw Suckerpunch, this really was much better. Better storyline, better everything. The action sequences and soundtrack I thought were really good. But, yeah, it could have been better.
I watched this last night and loved it! Never seen any of Joe Wright's films before, but I'll be checking out his back catalogue now. The only fault I can find in it is that it is a little fast paced and cuts between scenes a bit too quickly. This kind of gives it a bit of a comic book feel, whereas otherwise the film is just packed with lots of trippy art house moments. It's got a good story that unfolds as the film progresses, but the film's strengths for me are the amazing cinematography and the soundtrack that really adds to the atmosphere of the movie. Never been a huge fan of The Carmichael Brothers but gotta say they came up with the goods this time. And I noticed a lot of Kubrick references in there, specifically to 2001 and also A Clockwork Orange, referencing Kubrick seems to be all the rage these days. Overall though the film seems to be heavily inspired by some of the outlandish and often slightly camp vibe of The 5th Element. Reminded me a little bit of Run Lola Run too, owing a lot perhaps to the highly convincing German accent of Saoirse Ronan, a very promising young actress I think, and way too cute.. In fact all the acting in it was of a very high standard, Cate Blanchett has been playing a lot of good parts recently. I thought she was really good in Babel. And Tom Hollander also played the crazy pimp killer pretty well also. 8.5/10
