Hanna’s stunning opening sequence sets the tone for the story that is about to unfold: frantic surreal and jarring.
The story revolves around a young girl named Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) who has been raised in isolation by her father (Eric Bana) to be the perfect survivor.
She learns to hunt fight with any weapon and speak fluently in many languages. When she comes of age she has the modern world thrust upon her in a shocking transition and has to evade a team of operatives sent to hunt her down. Led by a ruthless CIA agent (Cate Blanchett) the killer operatives pursue Hanna across Europe as she tries to piece together her own history.
The strangest thing about this movie isn’t the outlandish plot but the pacing. From the very first moment director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) urges the plot forward at a pace that is occasionally driving and suspenseful but usually feels awkward and forced.
You barely spend anytime acquainting yourself with the lifestyle that Hanna grew up in before there is talk of the next plot point. The cabin scene that marks Hanna’s transition to the outside world is driven by disorienting flashes from too many camera angles lit with flashing colors. The result is a good visual match to the amazing score written by electronic artists The Chemical Brothers but doesn’t do much for the story.
The visuals were often stunning. Every shadow and color seemed perfectly placed to bring a surreal almost storybook quality to the movie. When the camera focuses on a landscape it is perfect and when it settles for a moment on Ronan especially in her occasionally seconds of relaxation and enjoyment the audience can feel her presence pushing through the screen.
The Chemical Brothers score is exceptional and most of the overtly electronic moments could easily work as stand-alone tracks. Unfortunately it seems that many of the visuals and storylines were cut to match a fast-paced instrumental rather than the other way around.
When Wright finally allows the plot to slow the cast shines. Ronan once again shows promise as a young actress and assisted by her flawless complexion draws the audience in to her confusion and determination.
Despite the absurdity of her circumstance she is easy to relate to and entertaining to follow. Her best scenes are with Sophie (Jessica Barden) a young tourist who plays the foil to Hanna’s otherworldly personality. Sophie’s preoccupation with boys and pop culture creates a poignant and hilarious juxtaposition and their uncomfortable friendship is one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie.
Bana does his best in this movie to break the realism. As is his norm he overacts to the best of his ability and his poor unidentifiable dialect weighs down his already heavy delivery.
It isn’t until the end of the movie that his relationship with Hanna ever feels real and this lack of development hinders the emotional impact of an otherwise heart-wrenching storyline.
Blanchett can’t be described as anything but odd in this movie. Her performance is not bad and it is certainly interesting but she goes through so many personality quirks accents and undeveloped references that even in the final act of the movie you still aren’t sure exactly who she is playing.
In total it’s difficult to say that Hanna isn’t a good film in the traditional sense. It was interesting exciting and occasionally gorgeous.
But it doesn’t follow traditional conventions of pace storytelling and character development. Instead the movie feels more like a hybrid between an extremely rich music video and a shallow movie.
Outside of a few standout performances the movie is weighed down by lackluster characters and one-dimensional personalities. It’s possible that with a different more structured edit the story and characters could rise to the level of the visuals and score but with the hectic style and abrasive storytelling it is unlikely that Hanna will be a mainstream hit.
Ronan however continues her progression towards becoming a more mature and affective performer and will likely develop into a very compelling actress.
Stars: 3 out of 5
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