Remember Saoirse Ronan, the little fibber in "Atonement" and the murder victim in "The Lovely Bones"? You don't look at her and think, "She'd make a terrific killing machine bent on revenge."
Or perhaps you would. The character of the petite tough gal has been a go-to cultural touchstone for years, from TV's iconic "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to the recent green-screen-a-thon "Sucker Punch." But rarely has the type been put through such elegant paces as in director Joe Wright's fairy-tale thriller "Hanna."
We meet Hanna in the empty-page whiteness of snowy Scandinavia. Her gaze is intense, not quite innocent but unsullied without being naïve. She is covered in homemade furs and hunting with bow and arrow. This is not sport, it is survival. We have no idea if this is the distant past or far future or last month — it gives the movie a mythic, existential cast that it's smart to never quite shake.
Her father and protector is Erik Heller (Eric Bana, appropriately rugged and concerned), a CIA asset who has raised Hanna as off the grid as possible, training her in languages, combat and general knowledge. Her mind is a steel trap, her fighting technique honed, her cover story in place. She is ready to return to the world, which means an inevitable showdown with Heller's old handler, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett).
Gorgeously photographed but lacking in much thematic weight (or even a whole lot of meaningful dialogue) and aided by a pounding score from the Chemical Brothers, "Hanna" intermittently recalls the spare doom of Cormac McCarthy here, the kinetic spy thrills of Jason Bourne there and the storyland feel of the Brothers Grimm everywhere, often at the same time.
Wright is best known for the above-mentioned historical drama "Atonement," but he proves a skilled action director. One of his patented long takes dazzles in its precision and guts.
In colorful, detailed set pieces ranging from the desert to the forest, full of rich color and tactile violence, Hanna pinballs across Europe, clobbering pursuing bad guys, hooking up with British tourists for vigorous comic relief. The most humane sequences involve Jessica Barden, a huge find as the family's mouthy, obnoxious daughter. She regards Hanna as something of an alien but is too self-absorbed to be anything but thrilled with the attention. It's as if Mr. Spock ran into a pint-sized Real Housewife of London.
The only bum acting note, oddly, is Blanchett, sporting one of the very worst Southern (or is it supposed to be specifically Texas?) accents ever recorded. Hopelessly miscast, searching for a character where none is to be found, Blanchett, like Bana, is also saddled with exposition, which doesn't quite help. Indeed, "Hanna" is the sort of thriller in which you want to story to explain less rather than more.
It really does work best as a fable. Once upon a time, there was a girl who could fight anything and everything, and did.
"Hanna"
Our grade: B+
Running Time: 111 min
MPAA rating: PG-13
Release Date: Apr 8, 2011
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