Hanna review

Hanna: Adapt or die. 
Erik: Think on your feet. 
Hanna: Even when I'm sleeping. 

Director: Joe Wright
(2011)

Joe Wright isn’t a director who produces many films a year. While he isn’t as commercially lucrative as other more productive filmmakers, I find that when a director takes his time with his films by working on them one at a time they often turn out to be better, more enjoyable films. After my surprise at the quality of 2007s Atonement, Wright has done it again with Hanna, one of the finer action films of 2011.

 After her great performance in Atonement, Wright reunites with the talented Sariose Ronan, who has bounced back wonderfully after her shockingly poor turn in the abhorrent The Lovely Bones. She owns her scenes as the titular Hanna, a 16 year old trained assassin. She has lived with her father alone in the isolated wilderness of Finland almost since birth, being trained so that one day she could take her revenge on mysterious CIA agent Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). From our first shot of Hanna, we know she means business, and is one of the strongest female protagonists since Alien heroine Ellen Ripley.

The highlight of Hanna is the action sequences. Not a fan of shaking cameras and jumpy editing, Wright frames his fights well, and lets them play out in real time.  Sariose Ronan certainly holds her own in these scenes, engaging with multiple foes in brutal hand to hand engagements. The undoubted highlight of the set pieces comes from Hanna's father Erik (Eric Bana). Upon arriving in Germany, we witness a single, unbroken tracking shot from exiting the train station all the way down to a subway station, where he engages in a fight with 4 of Marissa’s goons. If there was ever a shot to rival the Dunkirk scene from Wrights Atonement, this is it. What amplifies the intensity of these scenes is the excellent original score from the Chemical Brothers. It’s purely electric, a factor alone that raises the tension before the during the fighting. What’s more of a credit to Wright however, is that while he does use the score to amplify tension, he follows this up by giving the viewer a worthwhile payoff, making Hanna all the more satisfying.

Hanna's biggest flaw is its dull and unfulfilling story that cant capitalise on a thrilling and well paced build up. The first 2 thirds are shrouded in mystery, feeding us only the basic information about Hanna, her father and their connection with Marissa. Once the final third rolls around, any unanswered questions are met in such a fashion that describing them as boring is a detriment to the word. The quality of the climax is lessened further by lacking a good action scene. Until now, every engagement and encounter has been delightful, but Wrights focus on trying to be clever seems to come before making a well rounded film.

On the whole, Hanna is much like Ronan's performance; an elegant blend of edgy, exciting brilliance. But it also resembles Blanchett's antagonist, armed with an accent so bad it almost devalues the entire character. Regardless of flaws Joe Wright has done a marvellous job with Hanna, and has given 2011 one of its finest action thrillers.

7