"Hanna" starring Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, and the upcoming film "The Hobbit), Eric Bana (Star Trek, and The Hulk), and Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) is an epic film about a young girl who is raised in the wilderness by her father, and embarks on a journey across Europe, while being pursued by Intelligence Agents.
First, Saoirse Ronan plays the role of Hanna, a painfully socially ignorant girl, that has spent her entire life (thus far) training for the day that she can leave the metaphorical nest. While the film does very little to address the exact nature of her mission, it is clear from the first moments that she is on screen, that survival is key.
Her father Erik (Eric Bana) has been preparing her to face life in the same fashion a predator in the wild would do for it's cub. He is ruthless and methodical in his zeal to ensure her safety. Combat training, intensive foreign language studies, memory recall techniques, and foraging are all part of his daily regimen for her. The theme is survival of the fittest, kill or be killed, adapt or die...
Cate Blanchett's Marissa, is cold, calculating, and prideful. A woman that executes every task with a maniacal drive for perfection. She alone aims to capture Hanna, and kill Erik, Hanna's father, and will not allow anyone to derail her from her path.
Now honestly, I have to say that this film is impressive. It gives very little information and allows us to discover what we need to know as Hanna discovers what it's like to truly live. While we are led through remote locations where Hanna is forced to adapt to social situations and experiencing things she has only read about; we are given a forced perspective of the harrowing journey for life. How would one deal with being marked for death at the whim of a government agent. How would you cope with knowing you were 'different' from EVERY other human being. As a parent, how far would you go to ensure that your child could fend for themselves. This movie presents us with all these questions in fantastic form, as only director Joe Wright can provide.
"Hanna" is eccentric, action packed, dramatic, and emotional. A film worth a thousand words, with a sound track perfectly matched with it's gritty cinematography and intimate camera work. More films should strive to be as individualistic as this and offer just as much, if not more.
Rating: 4.5 (maximum is 5)
