Hanna follows a young girl named Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) who is being hunted by CIA agent Marissa (Cate Blanchett) for reasons that are initially unclear. All we know is that Hanna’s father (Eric Bana) has trained her to become a highly skilled assassin. I always think that Eric Bana looks like the spawn of Clive Owen and Liam Neeson — let’s see that made into a film. Also, Eric Bana plays Erik in Hanna, and Bruce Banner in Hulk, which I put down to lazy casting.
Talking of casting, the choice of Tom Hollander as German assassin Isaacs was strange. Hollander is excellent, but he’s a comedy actor; for instance, he was perfect for In The Loop. Here, he was just a bit too funny to be wholly believable as the sociopathic Isaacs. And why he thought that he (short and not particularly athletic) could take on Erik (effectively a fighting machine) is beyond me.
In fact, being just a bit too funny was a constant problem with Hanna. The liberal, middle-class English family felt worryingly familiar to me, so I enjoyed the joke, but it was an odd piece of comic relief. This film could have been an all-out action/comedy, but its dark core meant that these comedy moments just felt out of place. The scene with the Spanish boys felt particularly misjudged. Furthermore, there were scenes which seemed to think they were music videos, which were also misplaced. One bit reminded me of a scene from The Final Destination, but that’s just unfortunate.
The other problem was that some of the film felt contrived, mainly the fairy tale idea. I was reminded of the excellent Winter’s Bone, a film which created this mystical atmosphere purely through tone. This is where Hanna failed; the fairy tale elements seemed artificial. To avoid spoilers, I’ll just say that the wolf bit felt particularly laboured. Additionally, the interesting issues raised about identity were not explored as much as they could have been. Oh, and there were probably too many strange accents in Hanna. From odd German, to posh English, to Southern American, to indeterminable European, this film had them all. There were almost as many accents as there were plot holes.
All that said, Hanna remained a very strong film in spite of everything. Accent aside, Cate Blanchett was brilliantly creepy, in full-on wicked-witch mode. Her chilling performance made up for Tom Hollander’s rather unfortunate misplacement; she was scary enough for the both of them, yet she was also vulnerable, and felt like a fully-rounded character … a fully-rounded character who you wouldn’t want anywhere near your children. I particularly enjoyed her brutal dental routine, with her torture-like hygiene instruments reminding me of everything I hate about the dentist. It’s amazing what a simple shot of some teeth can tell you about a character.
Other performances were just as strong, particularly Saoirse Ronan, as a very believable Hanna, and Eric ‘Owen Neeson’ Bana, with a great balance of sensitivity and heroism. Furthermore, Hanna boasted some of the best action and fight scenes that I have seen for a very long time. There was also an excellent use of sound, with huge soundscapes created, in which sound effects fused perfectly with The Chemical Brothers‘ brilliant, heavy, industrial music.
Everything considered, Hanna held its ground as a very strong film. Yes, there were plot holes, and uncomfortable tonal shifts, and contrived elements, but it didn’t really matter. That is testament to some excellent performances and often inspired direction.
(Guest Clacked by Daniel “Mini” Meier.)
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Jun 04, 2011 @ 22:34 EST5EDT
