Hanna

"Hanna, what did your mom die of?"

"Three Bullets..."



I have heard a critic refer to this movie as The Bourne Identity for the Dora the Explorer generation. Perfect, but I would add to it a European twist. I enjoyed this film. I liked how this movie was able to seem so main stream and then jump to an odd European, electronic music video. With all of this it still held me. I found myself smiling at the oddity of some of the scene. Characters dancing in an abandoned theme park, a chase through a trailer bin lot and a show down on a roller coaster track.

Hanna is a girl raised by her father just south of the Arctic Circle. Her father, played by Eric Banna, is some sort of ex-secret operative. He spends his time training her to fight, learn languages and spend lots of time reading from an encyclopedia. The fight each other and you get the sense that this is all they do every day. It is not till the end of the movie that we see why. we get little bits of info as we go along. Hanna decides that it is time to come out of hiding and knows that this means she will be hunted by an ex boss of her father who is played by Cate Blanchett. I did not like her southern accent she uses on and off throughout the movie. Blanchetts character plays a very hardened person. Life has been hard and she is not willing to make it easy for others. She just does not care anymore. She's tired of trying to fit in and has just resolved herself to be different. Hanna on the other hand realizes she is different but still wants to fit in. To be a part of the world.

The is a lot of violence in this movie. Many good fight scenes some of which will make you giggle at, including her awkward first date. She is not used to anything a normal life would have to offer. She was raised in the woods. TV, Cars even lights are something new.

Saorise Ronin is definitely a girl to watch. She has been in a few recent movies including The Lovely Bones. She has an ability to play the part without over playing it. She almost seems to play it short of what it needs, but if you look at the little details, the eye movements, facial expressions or a subtle shift she is playing her part in full. I look forward to seeing her other films and see what she plans to take on next.

6.85 out of 10